''Prunus tangutica'' () is a species of wild

peach The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in Zhejiang province of Eastern China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and others (the glossy-skinned, non-fu ...

native to China. Based on its fruit traits it had been considered a wild

almond The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree native to Iran and surrounding countries, including the Levant. The almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree. Within the genus ...

, but genetic and morphological studies have shown that it is more closely related to ''

Prunus persica ''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 paleo ...

'', the cultivated peach, with its closest relative being ''

Prunus mongolica ''Prunus mongolica'' (the Mongolian almond) is a species of ''Prunus'' native to China and Mongolia, particularly the Gobi Desert. A small scrubby bush, reaching 1-2m, it is adapted to extreme drought. Genetic studies have shown that it is more cl ...

''. It is a very dense spiny shrub or shrubby tree, usually 1 to 2.5m tall but reaching 4m, preferring to grow on sunny slopes and alongside streams at 1500 to 2600m, but found as high as 3400m. Its flower petals are a pale pink, and its velutinous (velvety) fruit are green when unripe and purplishred when ripe. The fruits' mesocarps (fleshy exterior) splits when ripe, which led to it being classified as an almond for over a century, with the exception of Kovalev & Kostina in 1935, who assigned it to '' Persica''.

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* {{Peaches tangutica Peaches Trees of China Endemic flora of China Flora of Gansu Flora of Sichuan