Garden Alphabet: Apricot (Prunus armeniaca)

Garden Alphabet: Apricot (Prunus armeniaca)

I am not a big fan of apricots myself. I find their flavor a little off-putting, but I know many people who adore them. It seems that apricot was a popular backyard tree when our development was built back in the 40’s, as there are many, quite old, apricot trees scattered about. These flowers come from 2 neighborhood trees I saw on my regular walk. Our own apricot expired about 5 years after we bought this house.

Apricot (Prunus armeniaca)

An apricot is a fruit or the tree that bears the fruit. Usually, an apricot tree is from the tree species Prunus armeniaca, but the species Prunus brigantina, Prunus mandshurica, Prunus mume, and Prunus sibirica are closely related, have similar fruit, and are also called apricots.^[1]

The apricot is a small tree, 8–12 m (26–39 ft) tall, with a trunk up to 40 cm (16 in) in diameter and a dense, spreading canopy. The leaves are ovate, 5–9 cm (2.0–3.5 in) long and 4–8 cm (1.6–3.1 in) wide, with a rounded base, a pointed tip and a finely serrated margin. The flowers are 2–4.5 cm (0.8–1.8 in) in diameter, with five white to pinkish petals; they are produced singly or in pairs in early spring before the leaves. The fruit is a drupe similar to a small peach, 1.5–2.5 cm (0.6–1.0 in) diameter (larger in some modern cultivars), from yellow to orange, often tinged red on the side most exposed to the sun; its surface can be smooth (botanically described as: glabrous) or velvety with very short hairs (botanically: pubescent). The flesh is usually firm and not very juicy. Its taste can range from sweet to tart. The single seed is enclosed in a hard, stony shell, often called a “stone”, with a grainy, smooth texture except for three ridges running down one side.^{[2][3] — Wikipedia}

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