Prunus armeniaca, L.

5. P. armeniaca L. View in CoL , Sp. Pl. 474 (1753) View Cited Treatment

( Armeniaca vulgaris Lam. ).

Shrub or small tree 3-6(-10) m, glabrous except for the flower and fruit; young twigs and young leaves reddish. Leaves 5-10 x 5-8 cm, broadly ovate to suborbicular, acuminate to cuspidate, serrate, truncate or subcordate at the base; petiole 2-4 cm. Flowers subsessile, solitary or in pairs, appearing before the leaves; hypanthium and calyx hairy; petals 10-15 mm, white or very pale pink. Fruit 4-8 cm, subglobose, velutinous, reddishorange to yellow; mesocarp orange-yellow; endocarp lenticular, smooth, with 3 narrow ridges along one margin. Cultivatedfor its fruits (apricots) as a field crop in S. & S.C. Europe, and in gardens further north; locally naturalized. [Al Au Az BI Bu Co Cr Cz Ga Ge G r He Hs Hu It Ju Lu Rm Rs (W, K, E) Sa Si Tu.] (C. Asia and China.)