Almond

:This article refers to the plant. For other uses see Almond (disambiguation)

Related Topics:
Plant - Almond (disambiguation)

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The almond, Prunus dulcis (formerly classified as Prunus amygdalus, or Amygdalus communis) is a small deciduous tree belonging to the Subfamily Prunoideae of the Family Rosaceae. An almond is also the fruit of this tree. It is classified with the peach in the Subgenus Amygdalus within Prunus, distinguished from the other subgenera by the corrugated seed shell. The fruit lacks the sweet fleshy outer covering of other members of Prunus (such as the plum and cherry), this being replaced by a leathery coat containing the edible kernel which is often called a "nut" in common and culinary usage, but which is a drupe and not a nut in botanical parlance.

Related Topics:
Deciduous - Tree - Prunoideae - Rosaceae - Fruit - Peach - Prunus - Plum - Cherry - Drupe - Nut

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The tree is probably a native of southwest Asia and north Africa, but has been so extensively cultivated for so long over the warm temperate regions of the Old World that its original natural distribution is obscure. It can ripen fruit as far north as the British Isles. It is a tree of moderate size; the leaves are lanceolate, and serrated at the edges; and it flowers early in spring. The fruit is a drupe, having a downy outer coat, called the epicarp, which encloses the reticulated hard stony shell, or "endocarp". The seed is the kernel which is contained within these coverings.

Related Topics:
Asia - Africa - British Isles - Drupe

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