List of fruits

Temperate fruits

Fruits of temperate climates are almost universally borne on trees or woody shrubs or lianas[?]. They will not grow adequately in the tropics, as they need a period of cold (a chilling requirement) each year before they will flower. The apple, pear, cherry, and plum are the most widely grown and eaten, owing to their adaptability. Many other fruits are important regionally but do not figure prominently in commerce. Many sorts of fruit on this list are gathered from the wild, just as they were in Neolithic times.

The family Rosaceae dominates the temperate fruits, both in numbers and in importance. The pome fruits, stone fruits, brambles, and strawberry are all members of Rosaceae.

The pome[?] fruits:

• Apple
• Chokeberry[?] (Aronia spp.)
• Haw, the fruit of the hawthorn
• Juneberry[?] or saskatoon
• Medlar[?]
• Nannyberry or sheepberry (Viburnum spp.)
• Pear, European and Asian species
• Quince[?]
• Rowan[?] or mountain ash
• Sorb or sorb apple, the fruit of the service tree[?]

The stone fruits, drupes of genus Prunus:

• Apricot
• Cherry, sweet, sour, and wild species
• Plum, of which there are several domestic and wild species; dried plums are called prunes
• Peach and its variant the nectarine
• Hybrids of the preceding species, such as the pluot

The bramble fruits, compound fruits[?] of genus Rubus, loosely called berries:

• Blackberry, of which there are many species and hybrids, such as boysenberry and loganberry[?]
• Raspberry[?]
• Cloudberry

The true berries are dominated by the family[?] Ericaceae, many of which are hardy in the subarctic[?]:

• Bearberry[?]
• Bilberry or whortleberry
• Blueberry
• Cranberry
• Crowberry[?]
• Huckleberry
• Lingonberry

Other berries (not in Ericaceae):

• Barberry[?]
• Currant (Ribes spp.)
• Elderberry
• Gooseberry
• Honeysuckle: the berries of some species are edible, others are poisonous
• Seaberry[?] or sea buckthorn

Some fruits native to Asia that were not common elsewhere until the 20th century:

• Cornelian cherry[?]
• Goumi[?]
• Jujube[?]
• Kiwi fruit
• Loquat[?]
• Persimmon, Diospyros kaki

Some tree fruits native to North America:

• Juneberry[?] or saskatoon
• Pawpaw
• Persimmon, Diospyros virginiana

Several cacti yield tasty fruits, which are important traditional foods for some Native American peoples:

• Prickly pear
• Saguaro

Some exceptions to the statement that temperate fruits grow on woody perrenials are:

• Melon (Cucumis melo): cantaloupe and other muskmelons[?], honeydew[?]
• Sunberry[?] or wonderberry (Solanum spp.)
• Watermelon (Citrullus vulgaris)

The false fruits are not botanically fruits at all but are used as fruits in the kitchen:

• Rhubarb
• Strawberry

Mediterranean and subtropical fruits

Fruits in this category are not hardy to extreme cold, as the preceding temperate fruits are, yet tolerate some frost and may have a modest chilling requirement. Notable among these are natives of the Mediterranean:

• Fig
• Grape, called raisin, sultana, or currant when dried
• Pomegranate
• Date
• Mulberry

In the important genus Citrus some members are tropical, tolerating no frost. All common species of commerce are somewhat hardy:

• Citron[?]
• Grapefruit and its predecesor the pummelo
• Kumquat
• Key Lime[?]
• Lemon
• Lime (an important hybrid of the Key Lime[?] and the Citron[?])
• Mandarin, clementine, tangelo[?], tangerine, and similar
• orange, of which there are sweet and sour species

Other subtropical fruits:

• Guava
• Lychee
• Passion fruit[?]

Tropical fruits

Tropical fruit grow on plants of all habits. The only characteristic that they share is an intolerance of frost.

• Akee[?]
• Banana and its starchy variant the plantain
• Carambola, also called star fruit
• Cherimoya[?]
• Coconut
• Durian
• Jackfruit[?]
• Mango
• Mangosteen[?]
• Papaya
• Pineapple
• Rambutan
• Sapodilla[?]
• Tamarind

A nonedible fruit

• Osage orange

See also

• List of vegetables
• Food