Prunus dulcis

Almond, Almond

Family: Rosaceae · Type: tree · Not Native

Almond is a naturalized tree found in southern North Coast Ranges Interior, central Sierra Nevada Foothills, Central Valley, eastern San Francisco Bay Area, and southern South Coast Ranges in canyons, roadsides, and grasslands at elevations below 500 meters. Flowering from February to March, this tree produces pink to nearly white flowers 12 to 25 millimeters long in small clusters. Growing 5 to 8 meters tall with a deciduous habit, it has smooth branches without thorns. Its leaves are oblong to lanceolate, 25 to 100 millimeters long with crenate-serrate edges, having an obtuse base and acuminate tip. The fruit is an ovoid-oblong, velvety gray-green structure 25 to 40 millimeters long that splits to reveal a stone when mature.

Habitat: Canyons, roadsides, grassland (as waif)

Bloom period: Feb-Mar

Elevation: < 500 m

Bioregions: s NCoRI, c SNF, GV, e SnFrB, s SCoRO

California counties: Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, Sutter, Nevada, Riverside, Ventura, Alameda, Kern, Contra Costa, Solano, Butte, El Dorado, San Diego, San Francisco, Yolo, Lake, Monterey

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.