Prunus dulcis

Prunus dulcis Almond tree

Almendro

The last photograph may be a subspecies as the flowers are much pinker than most of the almond trees. It is a native of the Mediterranean of the Middle East and Asia. It has naturalised in many temperature countries and widely cultivated worldwide. The wild almond is very bitter and contains cyanide in the fruit. It is not understood how our ancestors decided which almond tree to cultivate, perhaps by getting people to eat lots of almonds and watching for which dropped dead! The actual almond is a drupe, with an outer hull and inner hard shell, therefore not a true nut. The tree grows from 4 to 10m tall and flowers from December to May.

There is lots more information on the almond on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almond