Desert Fruit Plants
- Arizona is well known for its citrus production.grapefruit for sale image by David Levinson from Fotolia.com
Despite the heat, the dryness and the climate extremes, many desert regions produce sweet and flavorful varieties of fruit. The majority of desert fruit trees are imported from other areas and are bred especially to withstand a wide range of temperatures; however, desert plants such as cacti produce edible fruits as well. - Citrus trees grow surprisingly well in the Arizona desert. In fact, Arizona is one of the top suppliers of navel oranges, next to California and Florida. A number of different types of citrus are cultivated in Maricopa County's Salt River Valley, which encompasses the Phoenix metropolitan region.
Valencia oranges generally perform well in the Salt River Valley. According to the University of Arizona, the Olinda and Campbell varieties produce medium-sized fruit with few seeds and a high-quality juice. Two other seedless varieties are the Midknight and Delta cultivars.
Tangelos, a hybrid cross between Mandarin and pummelo or Mandarin and grapefruit, also do well in the desert. Two popular varieties of tangelo are the Orlando and the Minneola, which grow large reddish-orange fruit. Minneolas are also pear-shaped with a prominent neck.
Navel oranges are usually eaten fresh. The juice contains a compound called limonin that makes it bitter if it is stored, so the fruits can be juiced but the juice must be consumed immediately. The Parent Washington variety, which produces a large and flavorful fruit, is the most popular type of navel orange grown in the Valley. Red and white grapefruit, sweet oranges, limes, lemons, limequats and kumquats are also popular citrus trees. - According to Hot Gardens.net, citrus trees do not fare as well in colder areas of the desert such as Las Vegas. However, fruit trees grow well in this climate. Peach trees usually start producing fruit 3 or 4 years after planting. The Rio Grande, Bonita and Desert Gold varieties can survive extreme desert temperatures. Nectarine trees, particularly self-pollinating cultivars such as Goldmine and Le Grand, provide copious amounts of fruit each season. Apricots need a winter season, so they also do well. An added benefit witht apricots is their attractive pink or white blossoms. Several cultivars that thrive in the desert include Chinese, Newcastle and Blenheim.
Other types of fruit trees that do well are plum trees, which reach to between 10 and 15 feet in height, fig trees, which produce 2 crops a year and grow as high as 30 feet, and pomegranate, a smaller shrub that thrives in full sun and alkaline soil. - Over 100 different species of prickly pear cacti produce edible fruits. Prickly pear has sharp spines and must be removed from the cactus using tongs, but the fruit is flavorful and is often eaten fresh, used in candy, jellies and drinks, or it can be dried and ground into flour. Another cactus that produces edible and flavorful fruit is the barrel cactus. Jonathan DuHamel, writer for the Tucson Citizen, indicates that barrel cactus fruit looks like small pineapples and tastes like a cross between kiwi fruit and lemon.
