Prunus persica tree grown for its large edible juicy fruit.
Peach trees (Prunus persica) is a species of Prunus (subfamily Prunoideae, Family Rosaceae), originally native to China. Peach trees are grown for their large edible juicy fruit with a large 'stone' seed.
Peach trees are deciduous and grow about 4-10m tall. Fruit have a number of variations including "free stone" (fruit easily detaches from the stone), "cling stone", white (sweeter), and yellow (with an acid tang).
Peaches tend to be quite restrictive in their climate requirements. They are a warm weather tree, but have a chilling requirement. They can survive to -26C (-15F) but temperatures this low will kill the flower buds. Ideally the chilling phase should not drop below -4C (25F) and the summers should be warm (means of 20-30C / 68-86F) for good fruit ripening. Despite these difficult requirements, peaches are a popular crop in many parts of the world including the southern US States (especially Georgia and Texas).
Nectarines are a peach cultivar based on a "smooth skin" recessive gene in the peach genome. Because of this, a tree grown from a peach stone has a small chance of producing nectarine fruit. Nectarine bud sports from peach trees have also been recorded.
Use this tag for all questions about growing peaches and nectarines.
