Prunus dulcis |
Prunus fasciculata |
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almond, almond tree, amandier, sweet almond |
desert almond, desert peach, wild almond |
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Habit | Trees, not suckering, 50–80 dm, not thorny. | Shrubs, suckering, much branched, 10–20(–30) dm, thorny. | ||||
Twigs | with terminal end buds, glabrous. |
with axillary end buds, glabrous or canescent. |
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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 oblanceolate to linear, 0.5–2 × 0.1–0.2(–0.4) cm, base long-attenuate, margins nearly entire or obscurely and remotely serrulate in distal 1/3, teeth blunt to sharp, sometimes glandular, apex rounded to acute, surfaces puberulent or glabrous or low-papillate (var. punctata). |
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Inflorescences | solitary flowers or 2-flowered fascicles. |
solitary flowers or 2-flowered fascicles. |
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Pedicels | 1–5 mm, glabrous. |
0–4 mm, glabrous. |
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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. |
unisexual, plants dioecious, blooming at leaf emergence; hypanthium campanulate, 1.5–3 mm, glabrous externally; sepals erect-spreading, triangular, 0.7–1 mm, margins entire, surfaces glabrous; petals white to yellowish, elliptic, obovate, or suborbiculate, 1.4–2.5(–4) mm; ovaries hairy. |
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Drupes | gray-green, ovoid-oblong, compressed, 25–40 mm, velutinous; mesocarps leathery (splitting); stones ellipsoid, strongly flattened, pitted. |
gray to red-brown, ovoid, ± compressed, 7–15 mm, densely puberulent; hypanthium tardily deciduous; mesocarps leathery to dry; stones ovoid, ± flattened. |
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2n | = 16. |
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Prunus dulcis |
Prunus fasciculata |
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Phenology | Flowering Feb–Mar; fruiting Jul–Sep. | |||||
Habitat | Roadsides, canyons, grasslands | |||||
Elevation | 20–500 m (100–1600 ft) | |||||
Distribution |
CA; ID; WA; w Asia; n Africa [Introduced in North America]
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AZ; CA; NV; UT; nw Mexico
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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.) |
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 9, p. 372. | FNA vol. 9, p. 370. | ||||
Parent taxa | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | Amygdalus dulcis, A. communis, P. amygdalus | Emplectocladus fasciculatus | ||||
Name authority | (Miller) D. A. Webb: Feddes Repert. 74: 24. (1967) | (Torrey) A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 10: 70. (1874) | ||||
Web links |
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