The African horned cucumber or kiwano has a pointy skin.
Pointy fruits are species of fruits with a sharp end or covered with honed bumps or projections. Some plants develop edible fruits that home and commercial growers cultivate for a food source. Certain plants propagate inedible fruits used solely for ornamental purposes. Throughout the world, many types of plants produce pointy fruits. Does this Spark an idea?
North America
Dragon fruit without its pointy scales.
Red pitaya (Hylocereus undatus) is a perennial night blooming cactus plant with a rapid rate of growth indigenous to Central America. This Cactaceae family member produces large, oblong shaped reddish-pink skinned berry with medium green pointy scales. The pulp of the fruit has white, red or magenta flesh with numerous black seeds. During the summer until fall, red pitaya flowers with fragrant, showy bell-shaped white blossoms. American sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) is a deciduous tree native to the eastern regions of the United States. This Hamamelidaceae family tree grows to heights of 60 to 80 feet with a spread of 40 to 60 feet wide. Starting in the late summer, American sweetgums develop green to brown 1 to 1 ½-inch rounded pointy balls of fruit that resemble a mace.
South America
Pineapple fruits has skin covered in pointy projections.
Pineapple (Ananas comosus) is a tropical plant endemic to southern Brazil and Paraguay; however, establishment of this fruit throughout world occurred because of migration and exploration. This herbaceous perennial has short, waxy green leaves and large fruits that look like pinecones with multiple hexagon shaped pointy projections. Lipstick tree (Bixa orellana) is an ornamental shrub to small tree native to Brazil and tropical America. This Bixaceae plant family member has a rounded form and blossoms with showy, 5-petaled white flowers with pink to red stamens. Lipstick tree has inedible fruit harvested for its seeds that forms in balls surrounded by pointy spikes.
Africa
Bitter melons have a pointy end and bumpy skin.
African horned cucumber (Cucumis metuliferus) is an annual vine that originates from many areas in Africa. This Cucurbitaceae family plant develops an oblong fruit with yellowish-orange skin covered in pointy bumps. The inner flesh of the African horned cucumber is a lime-green shade and tastes like a banana. Bitter melon (Momordica charantia) is an annual vine with a branching, climbing configuration that grows throughout tropical regions in Africa and Asia. The thick hairy stems of the bitter melon curve and have ovate to oblong leaves. Bitter melon produces a brilliant orange fruit with pointy ribs along the skin.
Asia
Starfruit is a pointy tropical fruit.
Durain (Durio zibethinus) is an evergreen tree that originates from tropical forests in Asia. This Bombacaceae family member grows to heights of 90 to 130 feet with a 4-foot diameter trunk that has peeling bark. The ovoid to oblong fruit has a rounded formation, yellow inner flesh and a dark brown skin covered in pointy spikes. Carambola, or starfruit, is the fruit of Averrhoa carambola shrub or small tree from several countries in Southeast Asia. This Oxalidaceae family plant has evergreen foliage and a slow growing pattern. Carambola is a showy, oblong fruit with a yellow to orange skin and a crisp, juicy yellow inner flesh that forms a 5-pointed star when cut in cross sections.
Tags: African horned, African horned cucumber, covered pointy, family member, fruit with
