Dragon Fruit Facts
Before I wrote this story, I knew about dragon fruit but I’d never seen a dragon fruit tree.
So, when the idea for the story came to me, just like Tomas in the book, I rushed home and typed it into the computer. And I saw the most wonderful looking tree, with huge cactus leaves that draped down like an upturned mop and vivid tendrils shooting out like bursts of flames.
As I started reading, it felt like this tree had magic already inside it, that it had come straight out of a story. And by the time I had finished reading, it was definitely going straight into one!
Here’s a little quiz about dragon fruit and the amazing trees they come from.
Two of the facts are false - can you spot them?
Photograph ©AuraCuevas
1. Eating too much red-colored dragon fruit can turn your pee red
2. Dragon fruit trees can flower 36 times a year
3. Each cactus arm on a dragon fruit tree can grow to up to 20ft long
4. They are full of little black seeds that you can eat
5. Dragon fruit trees rely on bats to pollinate them
6. Dragon fruit trees can grow high up on other trees
7. Dragon fruit trees are originally native to Mexico
8. Dragon fruit is also known as strawberry pear or pitaya.
9. Dragon fruits grow directly on the trunk
10. They have a moon-white flower as big as your head that blooms for just one night.
Can you find out some fun facts about other exotic fruit? Here are just a few to get you started
Tamarillo
Jabuticaba
Jackfruit
Durian
Cherimoya
Kiwano
All of the wonderful dragon fruit photos on this site were taken by Aura Cuevas
Quiz answers - Numbers 2 & 9 are false!
2 - Dragon fruit trees actually flower 3-6 times a year, which is probably just as well - imagine how many dragons Tomas would have otherwise!
9 - Dragon fruit don't grow directly on the trunks - but Jabuticaba do!