Prunus is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs from the rose family (Rosaceae) that produce stone fruits, or drupes. As of March 2024, the genus has about 340 accepted species, including almonds, apricots, cherries, peaches (and nectarines), and plums. It has a cosmopolitan distribution, being native to the temperate regions of North America, the neotropics of South America, and temperate and tropical regions of Eurasia and Africa.
Many Prunus species are widely cultivated for their sweet, fleshy fruit, as well as for decorative purposes due to the colorful seasonal blossom of their flowers. Many species are cyanogenic, making certain parts of the plant toxic. The fleshy outer portion of the fruit can be eaten fresh, while the pit is edible in some species but poisonous in many others. Most Prunus fruit are also made into processed foods and beverages such as canned and dried fruit, juices (e.g. cherry and prune juice), jam, gelatine desserts, and roasted seeds.
Description
Members of the genus are either deciduous or evergreen. A few species have spiny stems. The leaves are simple, alternate, usually lanceolate, unlobed, and often with nectaries on the leaf stalk along with stipules. The flowers are usually white to pink, sometimes red, with five petals and five sepals. Numerous stamens are present. Flowers are borne singly, or in umbels of two to six or sometimes more on racemes. The fruit is a fleshy drupe (a "prune") with a single relatively large, hard-coated seed (a "stone").
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Prunus 'Kanzan' in bloom
Inner canopy of Kanzan cherry in bloom
Black cherry (P. serotina) in bloom
Prunus eburnea in Behbahan
Prunus eburnea in Behbahan
Japanese cherry (P. serrulata)
Tibetan cherry (P. serrula)
Taxonomy
The modern taxon was traditionally classified as a subfamily of the rose family (Rosaceae), the Amygdaloideae (incorrectly "Prunoideae"), but...
