One of the earliest domesticated trees, prized for its delicious seeds (an almond is technically not a nut). A neophyte in Britain (first recorded in cultivation in 995) and Ireland.

Native to Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan, widely cultivated across north-western Europe and in the USA. In north-west Europe usually in streets and parks, rarely in orchards, occasionally naturalised in waste ground.

Syn. Prunus dulcis. Monoecious, hermaphrodite flowers. Insect-pollinated. Dispersed by mammals.

Small (9-12m), with erect branching becoming wide-spreading with age. Bark dark brown, becoming finely rough. Twigs and buds slightly downy. Leaves 9-12cm, lanceolate with a long pointed tip, glabrous, finely serrate, crumpled near the base, on a long (25mm) glanded petiole. Flowers large (25-50mm), single or paired on very short stalks so held close to the twig, rose-white, before the leaves in spring. Fruit a drupe (5cm), a green-then-brown husk around a hard pitted shell containing the seed (almond).

Hardy to -15°C, but the blossom is easily frost-damaged, harming fruiting. Plant in a warm, sheltered, well-drained site and prune in mid-summer to limit silver leaf, aiming for a 'goblet' form. 'Wild' forms contain significant cyanide, but most cultivars are bred for lower toxicity. The heritage 'Sultane' has been grown here since the eighteenth century; 'Princess' is a compact modern cultivar; ornamental double-flowered forms include 'Roseoplena' (pink) and 'Albaplena' (white).

Pollinating insects.

Prone to peach leaf curl and silver leaf.

Ornamental. Almonds for culinary use.