''Prunus mandshurica'', also called Manchurian apricot and scout apricot, is a tree in the genus ''

Prunus ''Prunus'' is a genus of trees and shrubs, which includes (among many others) the fruits plums, cherries, peaches, nectarines, apricots, and almonds. Native to the North American temperate regions, the neotropics of South America, and the p ...

''. It was first described by

Karl Maximovich Carl Johann Maximovich (also Karl Ivanovich Maximovich, Russian: Карл Иванович Максимович; 23 November 1827 in Tula, Russia – 16 February 1891 in Saint Petersburg) was a Russian botanist. Maximovich spent most of his li ...

in 1883 as a variety of the Siberian apricot (Tibetan apricot) '' Prunus armeniaca''. It is resistant to cold and is native to northeast China, Korea, and Manchuria. It is highly susceptible to plum pox potyvirus.

Description

''Prunus mandshurica'' is a

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, a ...

, broad-leaved tree, which grows to a height of about . The inner bark is red and the outer bark is black. The leaves are oval, with an elongated tip (

acuminate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular ...

or caudate), some hairs, and serrated edges. The tree grows best in

loam Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand ( particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–si ...

soils. Its petioles are . The sepals and petals are oval, while the length of the stamens is similar to that of the stigma, which is cup-shaped. Flowers appear in spring and are white or pale pink. Fruits appear in late summer and are yellow with some red. In the autumn, the leaves turn golden orange.

Uses

Seed oil from ''P. mandshurica'' has been studied as a source of

biodiesel Biodiesel is a form of diesel fuel derived from plants or animals and consisting of long-chain fatty acid esters. It is typically made by chemically reacting lipids such as animal fat ( tallow), soybean oil, or some other vegetable oil ...

. The oil content of '' Prunus sibirica'' seeds is lower but also has potential as a source of biodiesel. It has been used in cosmetics, soaps, and cold creams, and is also a source of the antimicrobial

phloretin Phloretin is a dihydrochalcone, a type of natural phenol. It can be found in apple tree leaves and the Manchurian apricot. Metabolism In rats, ingested phlorizin is converted into phloretin by hydrolytic enzymes in the small intestine. Phlor ...

. Practitioners of

traditional Chinese medicine Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medicine, alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. It has been described as "fraught with pseudoscience", with the majority of its treatments having no logica ...

believe that the dried kernels are useful for treating asthma and constipation.

Cultivars

Cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...

s include the 'Mandan', hybrids 'Moongold' and 'Sungold', and var. ''glabra''.

Nomenclature

In China, it is known as the northeastern apricot () or Liaoning apricot (); both names describe the geographical position of

Manchuria Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym "Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East ( Outer ...

. In Korean, it is known as the ''gaesalgu'' tree (개살구나무).

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q854093 Apricots mandshurica Trees of Korea Flora of Manchuria Flora of Primorsky Krai