The pear comes from the tree Pyrus communis, also called the common pear tree. The tree can be high. They live an average of 65 years. It starts as a pyramid-shaped tree. As it grows becomes rounded. It ends up becoming oval. This tree has gray bark covered with cracks. Its leaves are dark green and long. The flowers are pink or white and up to long.
The pear needs soil that is neither too dry nor too wet. It grows best in temperate and humid climates.
According to Pear Bureau Northwest, about 3000 known varieties of pears are grown worldwide.
The pear comes from Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It grew during the Neolithic era. Its standard form is the result of different hybridizations from wild specimens.
The pear was also cultivated by the Romans, who ate the fruits raw or cooked, just like apples.
Melon
A melon is any kind of edible, fleshy fruit in the Cucurbitaceae family. Many different cultivars have been produced, especially of muskmelons. Botanically speaking, the melon is a fruit, but some kinds are often considered vegetables. Most melons belong to the genus "Cucumis", but there are also some that belong to "Benincasa", "Citrullus" and "Momordica". The muskmelon belongs to "Cucumis", while the watermelon belongs to "Citrullus".
The word "melon" comes from the Latin ', which itself comes from the Greek (').
Melons come from Africa and southwest Asia. They gradually began to appear in Europe toward the end of the Roman Empire. Melons were introduced to America by early settlers, who grew honeydew and casaba melons as early as the 1600s. A number of Native American groups in New Mexico have a tradition of growing their own kinds of melon cultivars, derived from melons originally introduced by the Spanish.
Melons are a nutritious food. The seeds of cantaloupe were used in China to moderate fevers and the digestive system. Elsewhere, seeds were ground into a powder and used to treat tuberculosis. Cantaloupes are particularly beneficial to people with heart disease, as they have large of amounts of an anticoagulant known as adenosine. They also have high levels of potassium, which benefits those with high blood pressure. Due to their high water content, all melons are considered diuretics.
There is also evidence that suggests that eating melons can lower the risk of cancer. USDA researchers discovered that melons have lycopene, an antioxidant found in a select group of fruits and vegetables. Lycopene treats and prevents cancer by trapping free-radicals in cells.
Raspberry
A raspberry is an aggregate fruit, meaning it has many parts joined together. It is similar to a blackberry, but the fruit is hollow on the inside. There are many different species of raspberry plants, but only a few of them have fruit that are sold in stores. Leaves of the raspberry plant are also used fresh or dried in herbal teas. The raspberry is red when ripe, and is also a source of nectar for juices. Raspberries are a popular fruit in some parts of the world.
A raspberry plant typically grows in fields or in forest clearings where fire or wood-cutting has produced open space. As a cultivated plant in moist temperate regions, it is easy to grow. It has a tendency to spread unless cut back.
Two types of raspberry plants can be bought in stores: the older summer-bearing type and double- or "ever"-bearing plants. Raspberry plants make stalks each year. The fruit grows on these stalks. These stalks last for 2 years. Both the summer and everbearing plants create the fruit in the summer of the second year of the stalk. The stalks of the everbearing plant also creates fruit in the fall of the first year.
The raspberry fruit that are sold in stores come from plants that are hybrids between two species, "Rubus idaeus", European red raspberry, and "Rubus strigosus", American red raspberry. Fruit from "Rubus occidentalis", black raspberry, are sometimes available, and hybrids with red fruit exist. These three species are in the same subgenus, "Rubus" subgenus "Idaeobatus".
Other raspberry species in "Rubus" subgenus "Idaeobatus" include:
Other raspberry species that are not in "Rubus" subgenus "Idaeobatus" include:
Plum
A plum is a sweet fruit that grows on a plum tree. The scientific name for the tree is "Prunus" "domestica". When the fruit is dried, it is called a prune. The color "plum" takes its name from the fruit.
Prunus domestica is the European plum. Most of the plums we eat are grown on varieties of this tree. Greengages and damsons are varieties of plum.
The plant is usually a large shrub or a small tree. It has attractive white blossom in spring. The branches often have thorns. The fruit can be up to 8 cm across, and is usually sweet (dessert plum). Some varieties are sour and require cooking with sugar. The fruit has a single large seed inside.
Some plum trees need another plum tree growing nearby to fertilise the flowers. Without this the plum tree may not produce any fruit.
Plum colored plums are called "purple plums" and are a deep purple color; other plums are reddish purple. Some other plums can be yellow, red, green or even white. The fruit has a groove running down one side, and a smooth stone (seed). The flesh of the fruit is brownish and is very juicy. The skin can be eaten. It can also be used to make jam and the juice can be used to make wine. It is closely related to the apricot.
There are many cultivars of plum.
Plums come in a wide variety of colors and sizes. Some are much firmer-fleshed than others, and some have yellow, white, green or red flesh, with equally varying skin color. These are some of the best-kown:
Peach
The peach is a species of the "Prunus persica", and is a fruit tree of the rose family "Rosaceae". They grow in the warm regions of both the northern and southern hemispheres.
Peach blossoms are small to medium-sized. The tree is sometimes up to 6.5 m (21 feet) in height. When it is grown by people, the height it is usually kept between 3 and 4 m (10 and 13 feet) by pruning. Its leaves are green and pointy. They usually have glands that make a liquid to attract insects.
Peaches are also called stone fruits because they have a shell of hard wood around their seed, called a stone or a pit. The skin of a peach is an orange or yellow color, and it is covered in small hairs called "peach fuzz". A peach without the fuzz is usually called a nectarine. The inside of a peach is a golden color. It tastes sweet and sticky. Because of this, peaches are often part of desserts.
The peach first came from China. It has been grown from at least since 1000 B.C.E. In Chinese culture, the peach tree is considered to be the tree of life and peaches are symbols of immortality. Peach blossoms are carried by Chinese brides. It is also considered as the "National fruit of Afghanistan" and the ""Provincial fruit of Balochistan, Pakistan"" respectively.
Because of the cold winter, diseases, and pests, peach trees can usually only live about 10 to 12 years. However, if a peach tree is fertilized properly, and taken care of in the right way, it may live more years.
"Brown rot" is a very dangerous kind of peach disease. It can attack the blossoms and stop the fruit from developing. If it is not stopped quickly, good quality fruit can not be produced from the peach tree.
"Peach leaf curl", which is another very serious disease, makes the leaves curl up and begin to die in spring. It can be stopped if it meets fungicide.
"Bacterial spot" gives harm to the leaves, twigs and fruit. By the time the disease is recognized, it is often too late to stop it. However, some kind of sprays may be used early in the next season to protect the peach tree.
"Cankers" is a kind of disease that infects the twigs and branches. They make large amounts of amber-colored gum spill out from the infected branch. Later, the bark will crack open completely and the tissue of the twig turns black. Cankers can be removed by pruning.