Source: Wikipedia
| Prunus andersonii | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Rosales |
| Family: | Rosaceae |
| Genus: | Prunus |
| Species: | P. andersonii
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| Binomial name | |
| Prunus andersonii | |
| Synonyms[2] | |
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Prunus andersonii is a species of shrub in the rose family, part of the same genus as the peach, cherry, and almond. Its common names include desert peach and desert almond.
Description
[edit]Prunus andersonii is a deciduous shrub approaching 2 metres (6+1⁄2 ft) in height, its tangling branches narrowing to spiny-tipped twigs. Serrated, lance-shaped to oval leaves occur in clusters, each leaf measuring up to 3 centimeters (1+1⁄4 in) long. The inflorescence is a solitary flower or pair of flowers. Each flower has usually five concave pink petals each just under 1 cm (3⁄8 in) long, with many whiskerlike stamens at the center. Flowers bloom before or at the same time as the leaves appear.[3]
The fruit is a fuzzy reddish-orange drupe around 1 cm (3⁄8 in) wide. The fruits are fleshy in years with ample moisture, and dry in drought years.[3] The seed is a heart-shaped stone.[3] The plant reproduces sexually via germination of the seed, and vegetatively by sprouting from its rhizome.[3] One plant may sprout and resprout from its rhizomes to form a very large clone which can spread over several acres.[3][4]
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Flowering branch with long gray spines
Taxonomy
[edit]It was named after Charles Lewis Anderson by Asa Gray.[5]
Distribution and habitat
[edit]It is native to eastern California and western Nevada, where it grows in forests and scrub in desert and mountains.[6][7]
Ecology
[edit]Many rodents collect and eat the fruits and cache the seeds.[3]
Uses
[edit]The fruit is reportedly edible.[8] Among Native American groups, the Paiute used this plant for making tea and medicinal remedies, and the Cahuilla considered the fruit a delicacy.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ Rhodes, L.; Pollard, R.P. & Maxted, N. (2018). "Amygdalus andersonii". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 208. IUCN. e.T50049394A50626781. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T50049394A50626781.en.
- ^ Tropicos, Prunus andersonii A. Gray
- ^ a b c d e f US Forest Service Fire Ecology
- ^ Flora of North America, Prunus andersonii A. Gray, 1868. Desert peach
- ^ Gray, Asa (1868). "Characters of New Plants of California and Elsewhere . . ". Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts. 7: 337. Retrieved Mar 7, 2020.
- ^ Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map
- ^ Calflora taxon report, University of California, Prunus andersonii A. Gray desert peach
- ^ Turner, Mark; Kuhlmann, Ellen (2014). Trees & Shrubs of the Pacific Northwest (1st ed.). Portland, OR: Timber Press. p. 250. ISBN 978-1-60469-263-1.
- ^ University of Michigan Ethnobotany
External links
[edit]- "Prunus andersonii". Plants for a Future.
- Jepson Flora Project: Prunus andersonii
- Calphotos Photo gallery, University of California
Media related to Prunus andersonii at Wikimedia Commons
