This exotic silver-barked tree opens sprays of white flowers. Its name is derived from the spice that is made from the subsequent dried unripe fruits or berries, the name "allspice" being coined as early as 1621 by the English, who thought that it combined the flavour of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. The fruit are picked when green and unripe and are traditionally dried in the sun, and when dry are brown and resemble large brown peppercorns. The whole fruit have a longer shelf life than the powdered product and produce a more aromatic product when freshly ground. It is native to the Greater Antilles, southern Mexico, and Central America, but is now cultivated in many warm parts of the world. To confuse the issue, there are several unrelated fragrant shrubs which are also called "Carolina allspice" (Calycanthus floridus), "Japanese allspice" (Chimonanthus praecox) or "wild allspice" (Lindera benzoin). Allspice is also sometimes used to refer to the herb costmary (Tanacetum balsamita). ... Learn More

Resembling a straight banana with rounded ends, this passion fruit prefers a cooler and less humid environment than others, when it will produce dozens of large, bright yellow fruits which usually hang, hidden, deep within the foliage of the plant, the vines sometimes having the tendency to fall down to the ground with the great weight of the fruit. These are ripe when they are easily pulled from the vine, the interior being a deep, dark orange. Unlike the more common passifloras, this is quite sweet, and when very ripe can be eaten out of hand. It is native to the Andes, and is found wild in Venezuela, Columbia, Peru, and Bolivia at high altitudes up to 5400 to 10,500 feet. In warmer climes the bright pink flowers, which bloom continuously throughout the year, attract hummingbirds, as well as being a favourite food of the butterflies. ... Learn More

Clusters of starry flowers later become bizarre fruits, which are usually oval in shape and at first green before turning yellow then almost white as they ripen, with a vague resemblance in shape to truffles and with a strong smell and sometimes bitter taste. This unusual tree from the coffee family has a native range extending through south east Asia and Australasia. One of the many uses for Morinda citrifolia is for its medicinal properties, in fact, for many cultures in Burma and Australia this fruit is a vital part of their diet. Polynesian healer used this plant for thousands of years to prepare effective remedies to various health challenges. In addition, the bark produces a brownish-purplish dye for batik-makin dyeing. In a study in Costa Rica, looking at its anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative effects, it reduced inflammation in rats significantly due to the presence of flavonoids, coumarins, iridoids and vitamin C! We cannot guarantee these effects in humans though........ ... Learn More

Carica Papaya, the Papaya, Pawpaw or Fruta Bomba, is a fruit tree that comes from sub-humid tropical regions of South America and Central America, especially Mexico, where, in the open ground it often reaches up to 8 meters high and 4 meters wide. These trees can make extremely attractive specimens with palmed leaves when grown in a large pot indoors. The succulent yellow and green fruits, with yellow-orange pulp and weighing up to 1kg, grow attached to the trunk. Although there are now hybrids that can have both sexes, the male trees have cream flowers whilst the female trees have white-yellowish flowers. ... Learn More

These new, rare and absolutely delightful, small Central American fruits look like tiny watermelons but taste of cucumber with a hint of citrus fruit. They can be grown like regular cucumbers and can be trained up canes or wires but are quite pest resistant, hardy enough to grow well outside, drought resistant and contain male and female flowers. Pick the fruit when still firm to the touch. ... Learn More

"Dragon Fruits" are the fruits of the exotic "PITAHAYA" cactus. This plant can be grown as an ornamental plant indoors, or outside in hot countries, where it will put forth large fragrant white flowers. These in turn produce an almost endless supply of attractive, grapefruit-sized red fruits, with numerous, rather fascinating, tiny, green-tipped, red 'wings'. When the soft, rubbery, inedible skin is cut open, the attractively contrasting, delicately-flavoured white flesh, studded with tiny edible black seeds is revealed, rather similar to "Kiwi Fruits". These incredibly healthy fruits contain generous servings of vitamin C, along with numerous antioxidants, and are sold in Supermarkets in the UK at very high prices. ... Learn More

One of the most beautiful of the passionflowers, this beauty opens its large, fragrant flowers with deep red petals and a centre crown that contains five rows of numerous white and purple rays. Large leaves hang from stems that are quadrangular in cross section, hence its botanical name. It produces the most enormous fruits of all of the passion fruits, which grow very rapidly, and may weigh up to 4 kg (9 lb) turning to medium yellow when mature. For best fruiting, flowers should be hand pollinated. The ripe fruit is eaten fresh or used in drinks whilst unripe, green fruit is eaten as a vegetable. It is quite hardy, surviving temperatures down to 1°C (35°F) for short periods of time. In warm areas it can be cultivated in home gardens, or it can even be kept as a greenhouse or indoor container plant, and grown in a sunny south-facing window. ... Learn More

Attractive, frilly flowers mature into guava fruits, which may be round, ovoid or pear-shaped, 2 to 4 inches long, and are commonly used in jams and juices. A series of tests on Indian fruits, including Himalayan apples and pomegranates, bananas from the south, and grapes from Maharashtra, found the guava, (exotic in Europe but a poor man's fruit in India), to be the ultimate super food with the highest concentration of antioxidants which protects against the cell damage that often ages skin! From seed, common guavas may bloom and set fruit in as little as 2 years. They are evergreen, faintly fragrant, and growth, in California for example, is rarely over 10 - 12 feet. The bark is smooth, mottled green or reddish brown and peels off in thin flakes to reveal the attractive "bony" aspect of its trunk. Guavas can bloom throughout the year in mild-winter areas, but the heaviest bloom occurs with the onset of warm weather in the spring. And if the tops of the trees are frozen, they usually sprout from the ground and are back in production in 2-3 years! ... Learn More

Purple fruit, 3–4 cm in diameter, with one to four large seeds, have white, sweet, juicy pulp, closely resembling grapes, and with a similar flavour, which can be eaten raw or be used to make jellies and drinks (plain juice or wine). They are borne directly on the main trunks and branches of the tree, giving a distinctive and very odd-looking appearance. They do well in tropical and subtropical climates, but will survive temperatures as low as 22-27F, even when young. They make attractive conservatory plants if grown in a large pot. They are native to the Minas Gerais region of Brazil, spreading into Bolivia, Paraguay, and Northern Argentina. Fresh seeds are very rarely obtainable. ... Learn More

Sprays of orange flowers mature to bunches of white to slightly yellow coloured fruit, with a crunchy, juicy, acidic flavoured pulp, which are borne in great abundance. The Malay Gooseberry is tropical or subtropical, and can take several degrees of frost for brief periods of time, two fruiting cycles occurring per year, and depending on the climate, trees can produce occasionally throughout the year. Often the fruit is cooked with sugar, upon which the pulp and juice turns bright red, common uses for the resulting fruit mixture are for beverages and sauces. It is native to Madagascar, but was spread long ago by humans throughout much of India, south east Asia, some Pacific islands, the Caribbean region and Central and South America. ... Learn More

These attractive orange fruits have a refreshing citrus flavour, sometimes described as a combination of rhubarb and lime, and the bright green juice is often used as a drink. Naranjilla are quite delicate plants and need protection from strong winds and direct sunlight, in hot countries growing best in partial shade. The attractive, felted, large green leaves have a warm purply hue, but are covered in sharp prickles, the biggest ones hidden beneath the leaves. Solanum quitoense is native to South America where it is often found at quite high altitudes, but in cultivation, in cooler climes, it likes a sunny location, and to be kept warm during winter with minimum temperature of 7C/45F. ... Learn More

The gorgeous round fruits of the Melon pear are cream skinned with purple streaks and have deliciously sweet and juicy flesh which is a succulent mixture of honeydew melon and cucumber. It is grown in a manner similar to its relatives such as the tomato, although it grows naturally upright by habit, and can thus be grown as a free-standing bush. Supports are sometimes used to keep the heavy crop of fruit from pulling the plant down. It has a fast growth rate, bearing fruit within 4 to 6 months after planting, and seeds are rarely produced in the UK. Although it is strictly a perennial, making a sizeable shrub, it is often cultivated as an annual, the attractive fruit often being seen in markets in Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru and Chile. ... Learn More

These lovely fruits need no description, being one of the healthiest foods you can eat, providing roughage as well as being sweet and juicy, so people in warmer countries can soon have a long-lived fruit tree in their garden! These plants also make attractive indoor container plants for growers in colder climates. ... Learn More

Usually a pale green to yellow when ripe, this amazing fruit is much larger than a grapefruit, with sweet flesh and thick spongy rind. By far the largest citrus in the world, the pummelo can reach 12" in diameter. Similar in appearance to a large grapefruit, it is native to South and Southeast Asia and is a natural citrus fruit, not a hybrid, and is indeed one of the original citrus species from which the rest of cultivated citrus were produced by hybridisation. The pummelo tree itself bears most attractive white flowers and generally has a somewhat crooked trunk and low, irregular branches. Botanists amongst you may be interested in its large number of names worldwide which are appended below...... Chinese grapefruit, Assamese: ৰবাব টেঙা robab tenga • Bengali: বাতাবি লেবু batabi lebu, ছোলঙ্গ cholanga, জাম্বুরা লেবু jambura lebu • Gujarati: પપનસ papanas • Hindi: बतावीनीम्बू batawi-nimbu, चकोतरा Chakotara, पपरमास papar-mas • Kannada: ಚಕೋತ ಹಣ್ಣು cakota hannu • Konkani: तॉरंद toranda • Malayalam: കമ്പിളിനാരങ്ങ kampilinaranna • Manipuri: ꯅꯣꯕꯥꯕ নোবাব Nobab • Marathi: बंपारा bampara, चकोत्रा cakotra, पपन्नस papannasa • Mizo: kamalo • Oriya: ବାତାପି batapi • Sanskrit: करुण karuna, मल्लिकापुष्प mallikapuspa • Tamil: மெதுக்கு metukku, பம்பளிமாசு pampalimacu, பொம்மாசு pommacu • Telugu: పంపరపనస pamparapanasa • Urdu: چکوتره Chakotara ... Learn More

Sweet, spiky-shelled, lychee-like fruits are produced twice a year, yielding crops in August and January. Growing seasons vary, however, in all of the tropical countries where it flourishes. Truly tropical, Rambutan trees love warm, humid climates, but also make perfect potted plants for indoors, although for non-tropical areas they can cope with temperatures down to 10 °C in the open. They are grown commercially within 12–15° of the equator where they do best in deep soil, clay loam or sandy loam rich in organic matter, and thrive on hilly terrain as they require good drainage. Fresh seeds and rarely available. ... Learn More