Prunus dulcis |
Prunus andersonii |
|
---|---|---|
almond, almond tree, amandier, sweet almond |
desert almond, desert peach |
|
Habit | Trees, not suckering, 50–80 dm, not thorny. | Shrubs, suckering unknown, much branched, 10–20(–30) dm, thorny. |
Twigs | with terminal end buds, glabrous. |
with axillary end buds, usually glabrous, rarely puberulent. |
Leaves | deciduous; petiole (8–)10–25 mm, usually winged distally, glabrous, usually glandular distally or on margins at bases of blades; blade oblong to lanceolate, 2.5–10 × 1–3 cm, base obtuse, margins crenulate-serrulate to crenate-serrate, teeth blunt, glandular, apex acuminate, surfaces glabrous. |
deciduous; ± sessile; blade narrowly elliptic, obovate, oblanceolate, or spatulate, 1–3 × 0.2–0.6 cm, base long-attenuate, margins usually serrulate, sometimes obscurely, teeth blunt, inconspicuously glandular, apex usually acute, sometimes obtuse, surfaces usually glabrous, sometimes puberulent. |
Inflorescences | solitary flowers or 2-flowered fascicles. |
solitary flowers or 2-flowered fascicles. |
Pedicels | 1–5 mm, glabrous. |
(1–)4–12 mm, glabrous. |
Flowers | blooming before leaf emergence; hypanthium cupulate, 4–7 mm, glabrous externally; sepals erect-spreading to spreading, oblong-ovate, 4–8 mm, margins entire, tomentose, surfaces glabrous; petals pink to nearly white, obovate, elliptic, or suborbiculate, 12–25 mm; ovaries hairy. |
blooming at leaf emergence; hypanthium campanulate, 3–4 mm, usually glabrous, rarely puberulent externally; sepals spreading, triangular, 1.5–2.5 mm, margins sparsely glandular-toothed, ciliate, surfaces glabrate; petals usually dark pink, sometimes nearly white, elliptic, obovate, or suborbiculate, (5–)8–11 mm; ovaries hairy. |
Drupes | gray-green, ovoid-oblong, compressed, 25–40 mm, velutinous; mesocarps leathery (splitting); stones ellipsoid, strongly flattened, pitted. |
greenish yellow to red-orange, globose to asymmetrically obovoid, compressed, 10–18 mm, base cuneate-stipitate, apex mucronate, densely puberulent; hypanthium persistent; mesocarps leathery to dry (often splitting); stones ellipsoid to subglobose, ± flattened. |
2n | = 16. |
|
Prunus dulcis |
Prunus andersonii |
|
Phenology | Flowering Feb–Mar; fruiting Jul–Sep. | Flowering Mar–May; fruiting Jun–Aug. |
Habitat | Roadsides, canyons, grasslands | Dry rocky slopes, washes, canyons, sagebrush scrub, pinyon-juniper woodlands |
Elevation | 20–500 m (100–1600 ft) | 900–2600 m (3000–8500 ft) |
Distribution |
CA; ID; WA; w Asia; n Africa [Introduced in North America]
|
CA; NV
|
Discussion | The United States now dominates world almond production with over 40% of the annual crop, all of it grown in or near the Central Valley of California. The in-shell “nuts” sold in stores are the pits of drupes with the leathery mesocarp removed. Almond is among the earliest blossoming trees and one of the first signs of spring in areas where it is grown. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Prunus andersonii inhabits the Great Basin Desert region of central and western Nevada, ranging westward into California to the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada from Modoc County south to Inyo County. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 9, p. 372. | FNA vol. 9, p. 373. |
Parent taxa | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Amygdalus dulcis, A. communis, P. amygdalus | |
Name authority | (Miller) D. A. Webb: Feddes Repert. 74: 24. (1967) | A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 7: 337. (1868) |
Web links |
|