Jan Steen on tree, National Fruit Collection (acc. 1955-009).jpg

A fruit tree is a tree bearing fruit — the structures formed by the ripened ovary of a flower containing one or more seeds. However, because all trees of flowering plants produce fruit (essentially all trees except tree ferns and gymnosperms), the term in horticultural usage applies to trees providing fruit as human food. Types of fruits are described and defined elsewhere (see Fruit), but would include fruit in a culinary sense as well as some nut bearing trees, like walnuts.

Temperate fruits[edit | edit source]

Fruits of temperate climates are almost always 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 small fruit on this list are gathered from the wild, just as they were in Neolithictimes.

The pome fruits[edit | edit source]

The stone fruits, drupes of genus Prunus[edit | edit source]

Other temperate fruits[edit | edit source]

Berries[edit | edit source]

In non-technical usage, berry means any small fruit that can be eaten whole and lacks objectionable seeds. The bramble fruits, compound fruits of genus Rubus (blackberries), are some of the most popular of these that are not true berries:

Rubus[edit | edit source]

[1][2]Raspberries*Blackberry, including dewberry, boysenberry, olallieberry, and tayberry

True berries[edit | edit source]

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

Other berries[edit | edit source]

Mediterranean and subtropical fruits[edit | edit source]

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:

Mediterranean natives[edit | edit source]

[3][4]Grapes*Black mulberry

Citrus[edit | edit source]

In the important genus Citrus (Rutaceae), some members are tropical, tolerating no frost. All common species of commerce are somewhat hardy: [5][6]Lemon*Blood Orange

Other subtropical fruits[edit | edit source]

See also[edit | edit source]

External Links[edit | edit source]

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Keywords forestry, trees, fruit trees
Authors Ethan, GamgeeGardner
License CC-BY-SA-3.0
Ported from http://permaculture.wikia.com/wiki/Fruit_tree (original)
Language English (en)
Related 0 subpages, 9 pages link here
Aliases Fruit trees
Impact 697 page views
Created November 7, 2015 by Ethan
Modified March 22, 2024 by Kathy Nativi
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