The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

almond, almond tree, amandier, sweet almond

desert almond, desert peach, wild almond

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.

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).

Inflorescences

solitary flowers or 2-flowered fascicles.

solitary flowers or 2-flowered fascicles.

Pedicels

1–5 mm, glabrous.

0–4 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.

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.

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.

2n

= 16.

Prunus dulcis

Prunus fasciculata

Phenology Flowering Feb–Mar; fruiting Jul–Sep.
Habitat Roadsides, canyons, grasslands
Elevation 20–500 m (100–1600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; ID; WA; w Asia; n Africa [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; NV; UT; nw Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
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.)

Key
1. Leaf blades sparsely to densely puberulent, not papillate.
var. fasciculata
1. Leaf blades glabrous, sometimes papillate.
var. punctata
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
P. americana, P. andersonii, P. angustifolia, P. armeniaca, P. avium, P. caroliniana, P. cerasifera, P. cerasus, P. domestica, P. emarginata, P. eremophila, P. fasciculata, P. fremontii, P. geniculata, P. glandulosa, P. gracilis, P. havardii, P. hortulana, P. ilicifolia, P. laurocerasus, P. lusitanica, P. mahaleb, P. maritima, P. mexicana, P. minutiflora, P. murrayana, P. myrtifolia, P. nigra, P. padus, P. pensylvanica, P. persica, P. pumila, P. rivularis, P. serotina, P. speciosa, P. spinosa, P. subcordata, P. subhirtella, P. texana, P. tomentosa, P. umbellata, P. virginiana, P. yedoensis
P. americana, P. andersonii, P. angustifolia, P. armeniaca, P. avium, P. caroliniana, P. cerasifera, P. cerasus, P. domestica, P. dulcis, P. emarginata, P. eremophila, P. fremontii, P. geniculata, P. glandulosa, P. gracilis, P. havardii, P. hortulana, P. ilicifolia, P. laurocerasus, P. lusitanica, P. mahaleb, P. maritima, P. mexicana, P. minutiflora, P. murrayana, P. myrtifolia, P. nigra, P. padus, P. pensylvanica, P. persica, P. pumila, P. rivularis, P. serotina, P. speciosa, P. spinosa, P. subcordata, P. subhirtella, P. texana, P. tomentosa, P. umbellata, P. virginiana, P. yedoensis
Subordinate taxa
P. fasciculata var. fasciculata, P. fasciculata var. punctata
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