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Open my wish list →A peach grows on a tree, and every peach has a story inside it. Here are three true things about where peaches began and what makes them peaches.
Peaches were first domesticated and grown in China during the Neolithic period. Research published in 2014 suggests this began as early as 6000 BCE, in Zhejiang Province.
SourcePeaches are called stone fruits, like the others in the Prunus group of plants. Their more formal name is drupes. The pit in the middle has a stony outside.
SourceNectarines belong to the same species as peaches. The difference is that nectarines lack the fuzz on the skin of the fruit.
SourceFrom flower to fruit
A peach tree is usually about 3 metres tall, though it may rarely grow to as much as 10 metres. Each spring, its flowers open one at a time or in twos. They usually bloom before the leaves begin to grow. The flowers range from white to red. Later come the fruits. Their skin can be greenish white to orange yellow, usually with a blush of red. Inside, the flesh may be greenish white, white, yellow or dark red. In some peaches, called freestones, the flesh comes away easily from the pit. In others, called clingstones, it clings tightly to it.
SourceA long journey
In China, where peaches began, the fruit is a symbol of a long life. Its Latin name, persica, points to Persia instead, because peaches were widely grown there. Peach growing reached Greece by 300 BCE. Alexander the Great is sometimes said to have brought peaches there, but no evidence for this has been found. The Romans knew them well by the first century CE. Many centuries later, in the 1500s, Spanish explorers brought the peach to the Americas. Peaches reached England and France in the 1600s. There they were a prized and expensive treat.
SourcePrunus amygdalus
The almond is a tree from the genus Prunus, like the peach. Its fruit has an outer hull and a hard shell with the seed inside. The almond we eat is that seed, and it is not a true nut. Its flowers open before the leaves, in early spring.
SourcePrunus armeniaca
The apricot is a juicy orange-yellow stone fruit tinged with red. Its Latin name points to Armenia, but genetic studies do not support the idea that it began there. It was domesticated in Central Asia and China.
SourcePrunus avium
The wild cherry, or sweet cherry, grows 5 to 25 metres tall. In early spring it has flowers with five pure white petals. Birds and mammals eat its cherries and spread the seeds in their droppings.
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