|
 |
 |
|
Fruit Trees: In a rustic garden the trees should be fruit trees wherever possible, or at least blossom trees of some kind. Apples, pears, plums, and cherries will all help to create the right atmosphere, as will nut trees such as hazel or almond. If there is space for a large tree, a Walnut might do.
In general, a fruit has come to be known the edible and usually succulent portion of certain trees, shrubs, woody vines, and herbaceous perennials. While the essential association with flower development is perhaps taken for granted it is more often a distinction on the basis of use which, in the popular mind, constitutes a fruit. Yet in any technical discussion of North American fruits, edible nuts such as pecans and walnuts are usually included. Even the tung nut which is nonedible and in fact poisonous to humans is included in reference books on fruit growing.
The fig is undoubtedly one of the earliest trees cultivated by man. It spread all over the Aegean and Levant centuries ago. It formed part of the staple diet of the Greeks and both fresh and dried figs are still so widely used in the Mediterranean that the fruit is commonly called "the poor man's food". In southern Asia the leaves, bark and fruit of the sacred fig are used in folk medicine but in India it is planted as a religious object and revered by Brahmans and Buddhists alike.
The mango [5C] is yet another fruit held in great esteem in India. |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
