''Prunus'' subg. ''Prunus'' is a subgenus of ''

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

''. This subgenus includes plums, apricots and bush cherries. Most species inside this subgenus bear fruit that is sugary, storing large amounts of energy, which is why most ''Prunus'' species' fruits are soft and rubbery. Some species conventionally included in ''Prunus'' subg. ''Amygdalus'' are clustered with plum/apricot species according to molecular phylogenetic studies. Shi et al. (2013) has incorporated subg. ''Amygdalus'' into subg. ''Prunus,'' thereby including almonds and

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-f ...

es in this subgenus.

Sections according to Shi et al. (2013)

Shi et al. (2013) divide subg. ''Prunus'' into seven sections: sect. ''Amygdalus'', sect. ''Armeniaca'', sect. ''Emplectocladus'', sect. ''Microcerasus'', sect. ''Persicae'', sect. ''Prunocerasus'' and sect. ''Prunus''. They form three clades. The basal clade is sect. ''Emplectocladus'' which is sometimes treated as a subgenus. The other two clades are the ''Amygdalus''-''Persicae'' clade (sometimes treated as subg. ''Amygdalus'') and the ''Armeniaca''-''Microcerasus''-''Prunocerasus''-''Prunus'' clade (subg. ''Prunus'' in a narrow sense).

Sect. ''Emplectocladus''

''Prunus'' sect. ''Emplectocladus'' (Torr.) A.Gray is the sister group to all the other species in this subgenus, and sometimes treated as a distinct subgenus, ''Prunus'' subg. ''Emplectocladus'' (Torr.) S.C.Mason. It includes six

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...

species. * '' Prunus fasciculata'' – desert almond * '' Prunus cercocarpifolia'' * '' Prunus eremophila'' – Mojave Desert almond * ''

Prunus havardii ''Prunus havardii'', called Havard's wild almond or Havard's plum, is a rare North American species of shrub tree native to western Texas in the United States and to northern Chihuahua (state), Chihuahua across the Río Grande in Mexico. It is in ...

'' – Havard's wild almond * ''

Prunus microphylla ''Prunus microphylla'' is a species of ''Prunus'' found in the semi-arid regions of Mexico, able to thrive in areas that receive only 300 to 500mm of rain annually. Judging from its morphology, it is most closely related to ''Prunus minutiflora'' ...

'' – Mexican wild almond * ''

Prunus minutiflora ''Prunus minutiflora'', called the Texas almond, is a shrub native to Texas and northern Mexico. 'Minutiflora' means "minute flower" as the flowers of this shrub are very tiny, with petals being only long. It has small flowers and dark brown/bl ...

'' – Texas wild almond

Sect. ''Amygdalus'' & Sect. ''Persica''

''Prunus'' sect. ''Amygdalus'' (L.) Benth. & Hook.f. and ''Prunus'' sect. ''Persica'' (Mill.) Nakai sometimes constitute ''Prunus'' subg. ''Amygdalus'' (L.) Focke. They form a monophyletic clade together, but the boundary between them seems not very distinct. A few species, such as ''P. spinosissima'' (thorny almond) and ''P. kansuensis'' (Gansu peach), are clustered in either sect. ''Amygdalus'' or sect. ''Persica'' in different studies. The word "ămygdălus" is Latin for the almond nut. Sect. ''Amygdalus'' includes most Old World almond species except '' P. mongolica'', '' P. tangutica'', '' P. triloba'', '' P. pedunculata'', '' P. tenella'', '' P. petunnikowii'' and probably other related species. Selected species: * ''

Prunus arabica ''Prunus arabica'' is a species of wild almond found across the Middle East. It is a broomlike shrub typically 0.75 to 2m tall, with brown bark. Its leaves have a 5-8 mm petiole and the leaf blades are 15 to 44 mm long and 3 to 10 mm wide. Its i ...

'' – Arabian wild almond * ''

Prunus dulcis 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 ...

'' – almond * ''

Prunus fenzliana ''Prunus fenzliana'' is a species of wild almond native to the Caucasus areas of Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, and Turkmenistan, preferring to grow at 1400-3500m above sea level. On the basis of morphology it has been long thought to be one ...

'' *'' Prunus spinosissima'' – thorny almond * Sect. ''Persica'' includes peach species as well as two species previously considered almonds ('' P. mongolica'' and '' P. tangutica''). * '' Prunus davidiana'' – Chinese peach * '' Prunus ferganensis'' – Fergana peach * '' Prunus kansuensis'' – Gansu peach * ''

Prunus mira ''Prunus mira'', the smooth stone peach, smooth-pit peach or Tibetan peach, and locally called behmi, behimi or tirul, is a species of ''Prunus'' native to the foothills of the Himalayas and the Tibetan plateau, at elevations typically between 26 ...

'' – Tibetan peach * ''

Prunus mongolica ''Prunus mongolica'' (the Mongolian almond) is a species of ''Prunus'' native to China and Mongolia, particularly the Gobi Desert The Gobi Desert ( Chinese: 戈壁 (沙漠), Mongolian: Говь (ᠭᠣᠪᠢ)) () is a large desert or brus ...

'' – Mongolian almond * ''

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 ...

'' – peach * ''

Prunus tangutica ''Prunus tangutica'' () is a species of wild peach native to China. Based on its fruit traits it had been considered a wild almond, but genetic and morphological studies have shown that it is more closely related to ''Prunus persica ''Prunus' ...

'' – Tangut almond

Sect. ''Armeniaca''

Species in this ''Prunus'' sect. ''Armeniaca'' (Scop.) Koch are apricots, native to

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago ...

. Selected species: * '' Prunus armeniaca'' – apricot * '' Prunus mandshurica'' – Manchurian apricot * ''

Prunus mume ''Prunus mume'' is an East Asian and Southeast Asian tree species classified in the ''Armeniaca'' section of the genus ''Prunus'' subgenus ''Prunus''. Its common names include Chinese plum, Japanese plum, and Japanese apricot. The flower, long ...

'' – Japanese apricot * ''

Prunus sibirica ''Prunus sibirica'', called Siberian apricot (), is a species of shrub or small tree native to northern China, Korea, Mongolia, and eastern Siberia. It is in the genus ''Prunus'' in the rose family, Rosaceae, one of several species whose fruit ar ...

'' – Siberian apricot

Sect. ''Microcerasus''

Species in ''Prunus'' sect. ''Microcerasus'' (Spach) C.K.Schneid. are known as bush cherries or dwarf cherries. Selected species: * '' Prunus glandulosa'' * '' Prunus japonica'' * '' Prunus prostrata'' * ''

Prunus pumila ''Prunus pumila'', commonly called sand cherry, is a North American species of cherry in the rose family. It is widespread in eastern and central Canada from New Brunswick west to Saskatchewan and the northern United States from Maine to Montana, ...

'' * '' Prunus tianshanica'' * '' Prunus tomentosa''

Sect. ''Prunocerasus''

''Prunus'' sect. ''Prunocerasus'' Koehne includes New World plums and peachbush ('' P. texana''). Selected species: * ''

Prunus americana ''Prunus americana'', commonly called the American plum, wild plum, or Marshall's large yellow sweet plum, is a species of ''Prunus'' native to North America from Saskatchewan and Idaho south to New Mexico and east to Québec, Maine and Florida ...

'' – American plum * '' Prunus angustifolia'' – sand plum * ''

Prunus maritima ''Prunus maritima'', the beach plum, is a species of plum native to the East Coast of the United States. It is a choice wild edible and its few pests and salt tolerance make it a resilient fruit crop for degraded lands and urban soils. Descri ...

'' – beach plum * '' Prunus mexicana'' – Mexican plum * ''

Prunus nigra ''Prunus nigra'', the Canada plum, Canadian plum, or black plum, is a species of ''Prunus'' native to eastern North America. Description ''Prunus nigra'' is a deciduous shrub or small tree growing to tall with a trunk up to in diameter, with ...

'' – Canada plum * '' Prunus texana'' – peachbush

Sect. ''Prunus''

''Prunus'' sect. ''Prunus'' includes Old World plums. Selected species: * ''

Prunus cerasifera __NOTOC__ ''Prunus cerasifera'' is a species of plum known by the common names cherry plum and myrobalan plum.Prunus domestica ''Prunus domestica'', the European plum is a species of flowering plant in the family Rosaceae. A deciduous tree, it includes many varieties of the fruit trees known as plums in English, though not all plums belong to this species. The greengag ...

'' – European plum * ''

Prunus salicina ''Prunus salicina'' ( syn. ''Prunus triflora'' or ''Prunus thibetica''), commonly called the Japanese plum or Chinese plum, is a small deciduous tree native to China. It is now also grown in fruit orchards in Vietnam, Korea, Japan, Israel, the U ...

'' – Chinese plum * '' Prunus simonii'' – apricot plum * ''

Prunus spinosa ''Prunus spinosa'', called blackthorn or sloe, is a species of flowering plant in the rose family Rosaceae. The species is native to Europe, western Asia, and regionally in northwest Africa. It is locally naturalized in New Zealand, Tasmania, ...

'' – sloe

Additional sections

Species of the following sections were not presented in the results of Shi et al. (2013). Therefore, their relationship with the sections proposed by Shi et al. (2013) is unclear.

Sect. ''Chamaeamygdalus''

''Prunus'' sect. ''Chamaeamygdalus'' Spach used to be included in the ''Amygdalus''-''Persica'' clade. However, molecular phylogenetic research indicates that it should be excluded from the ''Amygdalus''-''Persica'' clade. The phylogenetic positions of the species in this section are still uncertain. * ''

Prunus tenella ''Prunus tenella'', the dwarf Russian almond, is a species of deciduous shrub in the genus ''Prunus'', native to steppes of Eastern Europe and Western Siberia, as well as dry open sites of Caucasus, Western and Central Asia. It yields small almo ...

'' – Russian almond * ''

Prunus petunnikowii ''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 ...

Sect. ''Louiseania''

''Prunus'' sect. ''Louiseania'' (Carrière) Yazbek includes two or three Asian species. Although they are called flowering almond, they are more closely related to apricots and bush cherries. * ''

Prunus pedunculata ''Prunus pedunculata'' is a species of ''Prunus'' known in China as longpeduncled almond (长梗扁桃). It is native to China (particularly the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region), Mongolia and nearby sections of Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, С ...

'' * ''

Prunus triloba ''Prunus triloba'', sometimes called flowering plum or flowering almond, a name shared with '' Prunus jacquemontii'',Bailey, L.H.; Bailey, E.Z.; the staff of the Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. ''Hortus third: A concise dictionary of plants ...

'' * '' Prunus ulmifolia'' (It has not been confirmed by molecular studies whether this species belongs to this section.)

Sect. ''Penarmeniaca''

''Prunus'' sect. ''Penarmeniaca'' S.C.Mason is the sister group to New World plums, '' P. texana'' and probably the Old World species '' P. tenella''. It includes two New World species. * '' Prunus andersonii'' – desert peach * '' Prunus fremontii'' – desert apricot

Notes

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6401215 Plant subgenera