The almond is native to Iran, from northwestern Saudi Arabia, north through western Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, western Syria, to southern Turkey. It is a small deciduous tree, growing to between 4 and 10 meters in height, with a trunk of up to 30 centimeters in diameter. The young shoots are green at first, becoming purplish where exposed to sunlight, then grey in their second year. The leaves are 1 cm long and 1.2–4 cm broad, with a serrated margin and a 2.5 cm petiole. The flowers are white or pale pink, 3–5 cm diameter with five petals, produced singly or in pairs before the leaves in early spring. The fruit is a drupe 3.5–6 cm long, with a downy outer coat. The outer covering or exocarp, (fleshy in other members of Prunus such as the plum and cherry), is instead a leathery grey-green coating called the hull, which contains inside a hard shell, and the edible seed, commonly called a nut in culinary terms. Generally, one seed is present, but occasionally there are two. In botanical terms, an almond is not a true nut. The reticulated hard woody shell (like the outside of a peach pit) surrounding the edible seed is called the endocarp. The fruit is mature in the autumn, 7–8 months after flowering.

Almond Tree and Fruit

The almond is native to Iran, from northwestern Saudi Arabia, north through western Jordan, Israel,…

The word cherry refers to a fleshy fruit (drupe) that contains a single stony seed.

Cherry

The word cherry refers to a fleshy fruit (drupe) that contains a single stony seed.

"Drupe. b, stony wall of the putamen, inclosing the seed." -Whitney, 1911

Cherry Section

"Drupe. b, stony wall of the putamen, inclosing the seed." -Whitney, 1911

"Erythroxylon. 1. a flower; 2. one of the petals; 3. the pistil with 3 capitate stigmas; 4. a drupe; 5. the embryo." -Lindley, 1853

Coca

"Erythroxylon. 1. a flower; 2. one of the petals; 3. the pistil with 3 capitate stigmas; 4. a drupe;…

A drupe is the commonest example of the stone-fruit.

Drupe

A drupe is the commonest example of the stone-fruit.

"Drupe.--A fruit enclosing a stone or nut." -Newman, 1850

Drupe

"Drupe.--A fruit enclosing a stone or nut." -Newman, 1850

The Olive (Olea europaea) is a species of small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean region, from Lebanon, Syria and the maritime parts of Asia Minor and northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea. Its fruit, the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the Mediterranean region as the source of olive oil. The Olive tree is an evergreen tree or shrub native to the Mediterranean, Asia and parts of Africa. It is short and squat, and rarely exceeds 8–15 meters in height. The silvery green leaves are oblong in shape, measuring 4–10 cm long and 1–3 cm wide. The trunk is typically gnarled and twisted.The small white flowers, with four-cleft calyx and corolla, two stamens and bifid stigma, are borne generally on the last year's wood, in racemes springing from the axils of the leaves. The fruit is a small drupe 1–2.5 cm long, thinner-fleshed and smaller in wild plants than in orchard cultivars. Olives are harvested at the green stage or left to ripen to a rich purple colour (black olive). Canned black olives may contain chemicals that turn them black artificially.

Olive Branch

The Olive (Olea europaea) is a species of small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas…

"Prunus domestica. 1. a section of its drupe; 2. a section of the endocarp, showing the position of the seed." -Lindley, 1853

Plum

"Prunus domestica. 1. a section of its drupe; 2. a section of the endocarp, showing the position of…

"Sapindus senegalensis. 1. an expanded flower; 2. a petal; 3. the ovaries before fertilisation; 4. a vertical section of a ripe drupe, showing the embryo." -Lindley, 1853

Soapberry

"Sapindus senegalensis. 1. an expanded flower; 2. a petal; 3. the ovaries before fertilisation; 4. a…