Peach

The Peach (Prunus persica) is a tree native to China that bears a juicy fruit of the same name. more...

Home
Fragrances for Men
Fragrances for Women
Makeup
Beauty Tools
Blush
Avon
Bare Escentuals
Benefit
Clinique
Estée Lauder
Bronze
Other Shades
Pink
Lancôme
MAC
Mary Kay
Bronze
Orange, Coral
Other Shades
Peach
Pink
Plum, Wine
Nars
Other Brands
Signature Club A
Smashbox
Bronzer
Brow Pencils
Cases, Bags, Totes
Concealer
Eye Shadow
Eyeliner
Face Powder
False Eyelashes
Foundation
Lip Balm
Lip Gloss
Lip Pencils
Lipstick
Mascara
Mixed Brands
Other Makeup
Primer
Sets & Kits
Travel, Trial Sizes

It is a small deciduous tree growing to 5–10 m tall, belonging to the subfamily Prunoideae of the family Rosaceae. It is classified with the almond in the subgenus Amygdalus within the genus Prunus, distinguished from the other subgenera by the corrugated seed shell.

The leaves are lanceolate, 7–15 cm long and 2–3 cm broad. The flowers are produced in early spring before the leaves; they are solitary or paired, 2.5–3 cm diameter, pink, with five petals. The fruit is a drupe, with a single large seed encased in hard wood (called the "stone" or "pit"), yellow or whitish flesh, a delicate aroma, and a velvety skin that bruises easily. The seed is red, oval shaped and 1.5-2 cm thick. Peaches, along with cherries, plums and apricots, are stone fruits (drupes).

The scientific name persica derives from an early European belief that peaches were native to Persia (now Iran). The modern botanical consensus is that they originate in China, and were introduced to Persia and the Mediterranean region along the Silk Road in early historical times, probably by about 2000 BC (Huxley et al. 1992).

Cultivated peaches are divided into "freestone" and "clingstone" cultivars, depending on whether the flesh sticks to the stone or not; both kinds can have either white or yellow flesh. Peaches with white flesh typically are very sweet with little acidity, while yellow-fleshed peaches typically have an acidic tang coupled with sweetness, though this also varies greatly. Both colours often have some red on their skin. Low-acid white-fleshed peaches are the most popular kinds in China, Japan, and neighbouring Asian countries, while Europeans and North Americans have historically favoured the acidic, yellow-fleshed kinds.

Nectarines

The nectarine is a Cultivar Group of peach that has a smooth, fuzzless skin. Though grocers treat fuzzy peaches and nectarines as different fruits, they belong to the same species. Nectarines have arisen many times from fuzzy peaches, often as bud sports. Nectarines can be white, yellow, clingstone, or freestone. Regular peach trees occasionally produce a few nectarines, and vice versa. Nectarines are more easily damaged than fuzzy peaches. The history of the nectarine is unclear; the first recorded mention is from 1616 in England, but they had probably been grown much earlier in central Asia.

Cultivation

Peach trees grow very well in a fairly limited range, since they have a chilling requirement that subtropical areas cannot satisfy, and they are not very cold-hardy. The trees themselves can usually tolerate temperatures to around −26 °C to −30 °C, although the following season's flower buds are usually killed at these temperatures, leading to no crop that summer. Flower bud kill occurs at temperatures between −15 °C and −25 °C depending on the timing of the cold, with the buds becoming less cold tolerant in late winter . Certain cultivars are more tender and others can tolerate a few degrees more cold. In addition, a lot of summer heat is required to mature the crop, with mean temperatures of the hottest month between 20 °C and 30 °C.

Read more at Wikipedia.org