Fruits by Climate: From Temperate Orchards to Tropical Groves

Pear trees are native to Asia and spread across Europe and the mountains of North Africa, a cool-climate start for this path. The atlas records about 3,000 varieties grown worldwide, and China leads world production with 76 percent of the total.

Plums are likely among the first fruits humans domesticated, with origins in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus Mountains and China. The trees reach 5 to 6 meters when pruned, and the drupe is eaten fresh, dried as prunes, or made into jam, wine and brandy.

Prunus armeniaca was domesticated in Central Asia and China, and its cultivation later spread across Eurasia and into North Africa and Japan. The Wikipedia article places its arrival in southwest Asia in the third century BC, and Turkey leads world production with 20 percent.

Blueberries are native to North America, and the highbush varieties were introduced to Europe during the 1930s. Wild lowbush plants stay as small as 10 centimeters, while cultivated highbush bushes can reach 4 meters, which is the difference between the two commercial kinds.

The grapefruit is a subtropical citrus tree that originated in Barbados in the 18th century as an accidental cross between the sweet orange and the pomelo. Both parents came to the Caribbean from Asia in the 17th century, so this fruit is a product of its new warm home.

Kiwifruit grows on a woody vine of the genus Actinidia and is native to central and eastern China, with a recorded description dating to the 12th century during the Song dynasty. Cultivation moved from China to New Zealand in the early 20th century, and it was commercialized worldwide from there.

The common guava is a small myrtle-family tree native to Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and northern South America, and it is grown across tropical and subtropical regions. Botanically the fruit is a berry, and India accounts for 45 percent of the reported world production.

The durian, Durio zibethinus, is native to Borneo, Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula, and it is the only one of the 30 Durio species sold on the international market. Known in some regions as the king of fruits, it has a strong odor and a thorn-covered rind and typically weighs 1 to 3 kilograms.