Prunus mira
Species of plant
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 2600 and 3000 m, but ranging from 2000 to 4000 m.
| Prunus mira | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Rosales |
| Family: | Rosaceae |
| Genus: | Prunus |
| Species: | P. mira |
| Binomial name | |
| Prunus mira | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Description
Prunus mira grows to 8-12 m tall and the trunks 16 cm in diameter (DBH). The leaves are lanceolate, 5–10 cm long and 1.2–4 cm wide. The flowers are pinkish white. The 2-by-3 cm ovoid fruit has white flesh. As the common name suggests, the stone is smooth.[1]
Uses
The trees are cultivated in some parts of their native range, for their fruit (which is often pickled), their seeds (as a substitute for almonds), and for their seed oil, which is used for cooking and hair oil.[2] The rootstocks are used for almonds and for dwarfing peach trees, and are resistant to powdery mildew.[3]