Native to China is the peach tree, which is famous for its edible and juicy fruits called a peach. Peach trees are deciduous and grow up to 4 – 10 metres tall. Its leaves are long at between 7 – 16 cm long, and 2-3 cm broad. Its flowers grow in the spring time before
A cactus (or in plural – cacti or cactuses) are the member of the Cactaceae plant family which is native to the Americas. However, there is one exception which is the Mistletoe cactus which is native to Europe. Cacti are usually used as an ornamental plant, however there are some varieties that are used as
Maize, also known as corn, is a type of grass that was domesticated by the indigenous people of Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. It was used by the Mayans and the Aztecs to cook or grind it in a process called nixtamalization throughout central and southern Mexico. Later on, this crop spread throughout most of the
Pitaya, also known as pitahaya, is the fruit of cactus species. It is commonly known as a dragon fruit, strawberry pear, or nanettikafruit. It is native to Central and South America and comes from a vine-like catus. It is also grown in Asian nations like Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka. They
Also known as a courgette, the zucchini is a type of small summer squash that is part of the Cucurbita pepo. Zucchinis are yellow or green, and look similar to a cucumber. However, there are some varieties that look round or bottle-shaped. The zucchini, like all other summer squahes, had its original ancestors from the
Nudibranch’s are a type of clade that shed their shell after their larval stage. They are a favourite of scuba divers and underwater photographers due to their beautiful and striking colours. There are 3,000 described species of nudibranchs. They are casually called sea slugs, which by the way, is not a scientific term. However, not
The turnip is a type of root vegetable that is grown in temperate climates around the world. It is known for being a white and bulbous taproot vegetable which is used for human consumption. Larger versions are used to feed livestock. It is also an old vegetable charge in heraldry, as the prince-archbishop of Salzburg,
The banana is a common name for a type of herbaceous plant, as well as the name for the fruit that they produce. Although we normally see bananas as being yellow, they actually come in a variety of sizes and colours when they are ripe – including purple and red. The bananas that we normally
The purple mangosteen, simply known as ‘mangosteen’ to the rest of the world, is a tropical evergreen tree. It is believed to have origated in the Sunda Islands of Indonesia. Purple mangosteen trees grow up to around 7 to 25 metres tall. They have a hard rind which is a deep purple when it is
Mangoes are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent, however they are grown in many tropical and sub-tropical regions worldwide. The word ‘mango’ comes from the Potuguese word ‘manga’, which may have derived from Malayalam word which is also pronounced manga. It was first recorded in the European language by Ludovico di Varthema in in 1510 in
The grapefruit is a fruit from the sub-tropical citrus tree of the same name, which is famous for bearing bitter fruit. When it was found, it was named the ‘forbidden fruit’ and is commonly misidentified as the shaddock or pomelo. It is a hybrid that was first bred in Barbados in the 18th century. Grapefruit
The mandarin orange, commonly known as the mandarin, is a small citrus tree that has fruits that resemble a small orange. However, unlike oranges, the fruit from the mandarin orange tree is not spherical, but is oblate. Mandarin trees are hardy The mandarin orange tree is more tolerant of drought than its fruit. The fruit
Apples are the fruit of the apple tree, which is a species in the rose family which blooms perennially. It is one of the most widely grown fruit trees which originated in Western Asia. Its wild ancestor is still found here, however there are 7,500 known cultivars of apples today. Apple trees are small The
Pears come from a perennial fruit tree. It is cultivated in cool, temperate climates and there has been evidence that it has pears were eaten in prehistoric times, as they have been found in Swiss lake dwellings. In addition, pears and its equivalent words occur in all of the Celtic and Slavonic languages. It has
Sweet oranges are a citrus fruit that is actually a hybrid that was cultivated in ancient times, most likely between a pomelo and a mandarin. The orange tree is a small flowering tree that grows up to 10 metres tall and has evergreen leaves. Its leaves are between 4 to 10 centimetres long, and the
