Plants

Cold-hardy pear varieties allow one of the oldest orchard fruits to be grown where winter lows fall to -30°F and below. Pears have been cultivated for several thousand years in both Europe and East Asia. More than 3,000 varieties exist, though only a handful are sold in most stores. China grows nearly three-quarters of the … Read more

Cold hardy mangoes are a matter of degree, because the mango is a tropical tree with very little tolerance for frost. It is native to the region around northeastern India and Myanmar and has been cultivated for at least 4,000 years. India still grows about 44% of the world’s mangoes, out of a global harvest … Read more

Cold hardy pomegranate fruit trees extend one of the world’s oldest fruits beyond the hot, dry regions where it is usually grown. The pomegranate is native from Iran to the Himalayas of northern India and has been cultivated since ancient times. It grows as a dense, bushy shrub or small tree, with orange-red flowers that … Read more

Cold hardy orange fruit trees are a relative idea, because the sweet orange is one of the more tender members of the citrus family. The orange is an ancient hybrid of the pummelo and the mandarin, and it originated in southern China. It is now the world’s most widely grown citrus fruit, with roughly 70 … Read more

The many types of nectarines all belong to the same species as the peach. A nectarine is simply a peach without fuzz, and the smooth skin is the result of a single recessive gene. Nectarines tend to be slightly smaller, redder and sweeter than peaches. The fruit became popular in the 1950s, when breeders developed … Read more

The best green beans for cold weather are the ones that sprout in cool soil and finish quickly, because no green bean survives frost. Green beans are the immature pods of the common bean, a plant native to Central and South America. They are also called snap beans or string beans, and people have grown … Read more

Poisonous yellow berries are less common than red or black ones, which is one reason they catch people off guard. Yellow fruit is fairly rare in the wild, because many plants ripen through yellow on the way to red, orange or black. A berry that stays yellow when ripe usually belongs to one of a … Read more

Poisonous frog species carry their defenses in their skin, where glands release toxins that sicken or kill animals that try to eat them. A poisonous animal harms through touch or taste, while a venomous one injects its toxin. Almost all toxic frogs are poisonous, and only two known species are truly venomous. The best-known group … Read more

Poisonous fish species fall into two groups that are often confused. Poisonous fish carry toxins in their flesh, skin or organs and cause harm when eaten. Venomous fish deliver their toxin through spines, and this list covers both because both are commonly called poisonous. The most dangerous poison belongs to the pufferfish and their relatives. … Read more

Palm trees that produce fruit include some of the most important food plants on Earth. The palm family has about 2,600 species, and nearly all of them bear fruit of some kind. Only a few dozen are eaten by people, but those few feed hundreds of millions. Most palm fruits are built the same way, … Read more