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Prunus arabica facts for kids

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Prunus arabica
Prunus arabica.jpg
Prunus arabica in Bazoft, Iran
Scientific classification
Genus:
Prunus
Species:
arabica
Synonyms
  • Amygdalus arabica Olivier
  • Amygdalus arabica var. pubipetala V.Denisov & S.Serafimov
  • Amygdalus spartioides Spach
  • Prunus spartioides (Spach) C.K.Schneid.
  • Amygdalus agrestis (Boiss.) Yazbek
  • Prunus agrestis (Jord. & Fourr.) Yazbek
  • Amygdalus glauca Browicz
  • Prunus glauca (Browicz) A. E. Murray

Prunus arabica is a species of wild almond found across the Middle East. It is a broomlike shrub typically 0.75 to 2 m tall, with brown bark. Its leaves have a 5-8 mm petiole and the leaf blades are 15 to 44 mm long and 3 to 10 mm wide. Its inflorescences have dark red hypanthia and sepals (green on the interior of the sepals), and white, pale pink or pink petals. The flowers are borne on a pedicel about 3 mm long, which lengthens to 6 mm when the fruit is fully developed.

It prefers to grow in arid or semiarid areas at 500 to 2700 m above sea level. A full genetic and morphological analysis suggests that Prunus scoparia may be conspecific with it; certainly it is its closest relative. It is occasionally cultivated for erosion control, as its brushy growth form makes a good windbreak.

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