Pitaya
A pitaya or pitahaya is the fruit of several cactus species.
"Pitaya" usually refers to fruit of the genus Stenocereus, while "pitahaya" or "dragon fruit" always refers to fruit of the genus Hylocereus.
Vernacular names of Hylocereus
These fruits are commonly known in English as "dragon fruit", reflecting its vernacular Asian names. These include the Indonesia buah naga (lit. dragon fruit), the Khmer sror kaa neak (dragon scale), the Thai kaeo mangkon (Thai: แก้วมังกร) (dragon crystal), the Lao maak manggohn (Lao: ຫມາກມັງກອນ), the Vietnamese thanh long (green dragon), and the Chinese huǒ lóng guǒ (fire dragon fruit) or lóng zhū guǒ (dragon pearl fruit). Other vernacular names are "strawberry pear" or "nanettika fruit".
The name 'pitahaya' or 'pitaya' is, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, derived from the Spanish rendition of the Haitian.
Geography
Pitahaya-producing cacti of the genus Hylocereus are originally native to Mexico. They were transplanted to Central America and to other parts of the world.
