Prunus dulcis |
Prunus ilicifolia |
|||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
almond, almond tree, amandier, sweet almond |
Catalina cherry, evergreen cherry, holly leaf cherry, islay |
|||||
Habit | Trees, not suckering, 50–80 dm, not thorny. | Shrubs or trees, sometimes suckering, 10–150 dm, not thorny. | ||||
Twigs | with terminal end buds, glabrous. |
with terminal end buds, glabrous. |
||||
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. |
persistent; petiole 3–25 mm, glabrous, eglandular; blade oblong-ovate to ovate-lanceolate or ovate to suborbiculate, 1.6–12 × 1.2–5(–7) cm, base usually broadly rounded to subcordate, sometimes obtuse, margins spinose-dentate to spinose-serrulate or entire, sometimes undulate, teeth sharp, callus-tipped, sometimes glandular at leaf base, apex acute to acuminate, surfaces glabrous, abaxial eglandular, if glands present, restricted to margins. |
||||
Inflorescences | solitary flowers or 2-flowered fascicles. |
15–40-flowered, racemes; central axes 30–80 mm, leafless at bases. |
||||
Pedicels | 1–5 mm, glabrous. |
1–5 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 before leaf emergence; hypanthium cupulate, 2–3 mm, glabrous externally; sepals erect to spreading, triangular, 0.7–1.2 mm, margins entire, surfaces usually glabrous, rarely with scattered hairs; petals white to yellowish, elliptic, obovate, or suborbiculate, 1–3 mm; ovaries glabrous. |
||||
Drupes | gray-green, ovoid-oblong, compressed, 25–40 mm, velutinous; mesocarps leathery (splitting); stones ellipsoid, strongly flattened, pitted. |
dark red to purple or blue-black, obovoid or ellipsoid to globose, 12–25 mm, glabrous; mesocarps leathery; stones subglobose to ellipsoid, ± flattened. |
||||
2n | = 16. |
|||||
Prunus dulcis |
Prunus ilicifolia |
|||||
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]
|
CA; nw Mexico
|
||||
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 |
|
|||||
Source | FNA vol. 9, p. 372. | FNA vol. 9, p. 362. | ||||
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 | Cerasus ilicifolia | ||||
Name authority | (Miller) D. A. Webb: Feddes Repert. 74: 24. (1967) | (Nuttall ex Hooker & Arnott) D. Dietrich: Syn. Pl. 3: 43. (1842) | ||||
Web links |
|