Prunus fasciculata

Desert almond

Family: Rosaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Desert almond is a California native shrub found in desert and desert transition regions in rocky or gravelly areas. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces small white to pale yellow flowers less than 4 millimeters long in compact clusters. Growing as a much-branched thorny shrub under 3 meters tall with dense, intricate branching, it develops narrow linear leaves 5 to 20 millimeters long with long-tapered bases and acute tips. Its leaves are distinctively thin and elongated, generally entire, and arranged sparsely along the branches. The fruit is a small, densely fuzzy drupe 7 to 15 millimeters long, ranging in color from gray to red-brown with a dry, thin pulp.

California counties: San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Riverside, Kern, Inyo, San Luis Obispo, San Diego, Tulare, Santa Barbara, Lassen

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