Plant classification is one of the few things in the world on which all nations agree. The scientific name of the peach,Prunus persica, has the same meaning in Japan as it does here and in all other nations of the world. The correct name of a plant is the key to tracing its history and, in the case of fruit, to unlocking the diaries of past growers. Their successes and failures form the foundation of modern fruit culture.

There are many categories of plant classification, but those most likely to directly benefit the home gardener include the following:

Family....

Brown (1975) has described the apple as the most ubiquitous of all fruits because of its widespread use and cultivation. It is the most valuable tree fruit and can be found almost everywhere except in the very hottest and coldest regions of the world.

The exact origin of the apple is unknown, but according to Teskey and Shoemaker (1978), it probably originated in the region south of the Caucasus Mountains in Asia Minor. Many wildMalusspecies are indigenous there, and it seems likely that the apple arose as a result of interspecific hybridization. To reflect the hybrid origin, this...

Pears belong to the genusPyrusand, like apples, are members of the family Rosaceae. Currently about 22 species are recognized and all are thought to have originated in either Asia or Europe (Lombard and Westwood, 1987).

The history of pear culture has been lost in antiquity, but Hedrick (1921) reported that the plants were known to the ancient Greeks and were discussed by Homer nearly 3,000 years ago. Centuries before Christ, several pear cultivars were described along with techniques for their propagation. Pear culture gradually expanded throughout central and western Europe, and by the early 1800s, there were 900...

The peach,Prunus persica, is also a member of the rose family. The species is thought to have originated in China and has been cultivated in Asia and Europe for well over 2,000 years. The peach was disseminated by seed throughout Asia, Europe, and finally the New World. From China, it was carried to Persia and then to the Mediterranean Basin, where it was introduced to the Romans and Greeks. The Romans, in their travels and conquests, were probably responsible for distributing the peach throughout much of Europe (Hesse, 1975).

The peach was introduced to America by the Spanish conquest...

Worldwide, pie or tart cherries,Prunus cerasus, and sweet cherries,P. avium, are the two most important cherry species used commercially (Perry, 1987). The ground cherry,P. fruticosa, indigenous to south central Europe and Asia, is considered the probable parent of both tart and sweet cherries (Olden and Nybom, 1968). So-called Duke cherries are hybrids ofP. aviumandP. cerasus.

Hedrick (1915) suggested that cherries were first cultivated in Greece and were probably seed disseminated by man and birds throughout continental Europe. The early settlers introduced cherries to this country in 1629, and they were distributed only by seed...

Plums, like almonds, apricots, cherries, nectarines, and peaches, belong to the genusPrunus. Today, plums are widely grown throughout the world, but they were domesticated originally in three separate areas.

The most important European domesticate isP. domestica. This species has been cultivated in Europe for over 2,000 years, and Hedrick (1911) suggested it originated in the Caucasus Mountains near the Caspian Sea. Crane and Lawrence (1952) proposed that the species arose from hybridization ofP. cerasiferaandP. spinosafollowed by the development of polyploidy or chromosome doubling. But more recently, Salesses (1977) has uncovered genetic evidence suggesting that...

Worldwide, all commercially important apricot cultivars belong toPrunus armeniaca, a species thought to be indigenous to the mountains of northeast China. From its ancestral home, where it has been cultivated for over 3,000 years, the species spread slowly through Asia, finally reaching Armenia. Bailey and Hough (1975) have suggested that the species name,armeniaca, was derived from the Armenian merchants who first introduced the plant to Europe. Cross-Raynaud and Audergon (1987) place the date of introduction to Italy and Greece at about 70-60 b.c. They believe additional seedlings were imported from Iran through North Africa and Spain by Arabs...

Grapes, which belong to the genusVitis, a member of the family Vitaceae, have the unique distinction of being the most widely grown fruit crop in the world. They are cultivated on every continent and Howell (1987) has estimated world planting at over 10 million hectares (24,710,000 acres). In the United States nearly 30 native species and four basic groups of grapes are grown commercially. California leads all states in grape production, and the value of the 1989 crop was $1,544,350,000. Other major grape-producing states include Washington, New York, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Oregon, Ohio, Georgia, Arkansas, Missouri, North Carolina, and...

There is probably no fruit with a more colorful and interesting history than the strawberry. The route of its origin from humble native species to the productive hybrids of today is replete with mystery, myth, and a remarkable amount of improvement in a relatively short time span.

Strawberries were known to the ancient Greeks and Romans, but the small-fruited European species did not have much appeal to the early epicureans. The Greeks had an aversion to any type of red fruit, believing it was either poisonous or shrouded with mysterious, often evil powers. Pregnant women were to avoid the fruits...

The brambles, which in the Upper Midwest consist mainly of raspberries and blackberries, are all members of the rosaceous genusRubus. On a worldwide scale,Rubusis a very large and, to say the least, confusing genus. Several hundred species have been described, but because of the failure of the early taxonomists to thoroughly understand the genetics and breeding behavior that exist in the genus, many of these species today have been reduced to synonomy or exist only as “paper species.”

Although the nomenclature of the species ofRubusinvolved in the origin of the cultivated red raspberry is still...

For many years, currants and gooseberries were placed in separate genera, but today most authors have united the species into a single genus,Ribes. This member of the family Saxifragaceae contains about 150 species distributed mainly in the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere as well as North Africa and the Andes (Keep, 1975).

In addition to the garden types, there are a few species used in the Upper Midwest for hedges and shrub ornamentals. Fruit, when produced on these landscape plants, is edible, but it is not widely used. For details on the landscape value ofRibes alpinum(alpine...

The blueberry, along with the bilberry, cranberry, and huckleberry, belongs to the genusVaccinium, which is a member of the family Ericaceae. About 150 species in this genus are native to the Northern Hemisphere. Most are found in North America and eastern Asia (Bailey et al., 1976). Another genus in the family,Gaylussacia, which contains the true huckleberries, is often confused with blueberries. True blueberries have 50 to 75 tiny seeds that are barely noticeable, but the huckleberries inGaylussaciahave 10 large, bonelike seeds.

Blueberries are relative newcomers to American gardens, since virtually all available cultivars were developed during...

Choosing which fruits to include in this chapter was difficult; certainly many more could have been added. Those selected are generally not widely grown by home gardeners. This may be because of the exacting soil and cultural requirements of plants like the cranberry. Or perhaps it is because the taste quality of the buffalo berry may not always appeal to the palate. I suspect that another reason, possibly the most important, is that many of these plants are poorly known. Elderberries andAmelanchier(Juneberry) are a case in point, yet both are easy to grow, are extremely hardy, and yield...