Prunus dulcis

Tutin, T. G., Heywood, V. H., Burges, N. A., Moore, D. M., Valentine, D. H., Walters, S. M. & Webb, D. A., 1981, Flora Europaea. Volume 2. Rosaceae to Umbelliferae, Cambridge University Press : 78

2. P. dulcis (Miller) D. A. Webb, Feddes Repert. 74: 24 (1967)

( Amygdalus communis L. , A. dulcis Miller , P. communis (L.) Arcangeli , non Hudson, P. amygdalus Batsch ).

Shrub or tree up to 8 m, in wild plants spiny and intricately branched, in cultivated plants with straight, spineless branches. Leaves 4-12 x 1-2-3 cm, oblong-lanceolate, crenate-serrate, glabrous. Flowers mostly in pairs; hypanthium broadly campanulate; sepals tomentose at least on the margin; petals c. 20 mm, bright pink in bud, fading to pale pink or almost white. Fruit 35-60 mm, ovoid-oblong, compressed, tomentose, grey-green; mesocarp coriaceous, eventually splitting and separating away from the finely pitted, keeled endocarp. Extensively cultivatedfor its edible seeds (almonds) as a field crop in S. & S.C. Europe, and in gardens for ornament further north; frequently naturalized in the Mediterranean region. [Al Au BI Bu Co Cr Cz Ga Ge G r He Hu It Ju Lu Rm Rs (W, K, E) Sa Si Tu.] (C. & S.W. Asia, N. Africa.)