Fun Facts:

• Apples are native to central Asia, and their wild ancestor is still widespread in the region. Trees grown from seed usually vary greatly from the parent tree, so most of the world’s 7,500 known cultivars are grown from grafts. China accounts for about half of the world’s 94.8 million tons of annual production.

• Pears are native to coastal and mildly temperate regions of Europe, north Africa, and Asia. Wood from pear trees is commonly used in the manufacture of woodwind instruments and furniture. There are about 3,000 known varieties grown and consumed around the world.

• Peaches are native to eastern China, which is still the largest producer. The species name, Prunus persica, refers to their widespread cultivation in Persia, from where they were imported into Europe. Botanically, peaches and nectarines are the same species, although considered different commercially. They are also closely related to almonds, cherries, apricots, and plums.

• Pecans are a relative of hickory, and are one of the most recently domesticated major crops; put under cultivation in the 1880s, the annual harvest in the US totals about 264 million pounds, about 75% of which are grown in Georgia.

• Native to the Mediterranean, western Asia, and south Asia, figs have been cultivated since ancient times. The edible species, Ficus carica, is the type species for the genus, meaning the genus ficus is named for it. Turkey, Morocco, Egypt, and Algeria together account for about 64% of the world’s total annual harvest of about 1.26 million tons per year.