Desert Peach
Prunus andersonii
Color: Pink
Common name: Desert Peach
Latin name: Prunus andersonii
Family: ROSACEAE
Height: < 6.5 feet
Description: Prunus andersonii has tangling branches that narrow to spiny-tipped twigs. The shrub is deciduous. The inflorescence is a solitary flower or pair of flowers. Each flower has usually five concave pink petals each just under a centimeter long, with many whiskerlike stamens at the center. Flowers bloom before or at the same time as the leaves grow. The fruit is a fuzzy reddish-orange drupe around a centimeter wide. The fruits are fleshy is years with ample moisture, and dry in drought years. The seed is a heart-shaped stone.
Leaf: Serrated, lance-shaped to oval leaves occur in clusters, each leaf measuring up to 3 centimeters long.
Range: High Sierra Nevada (e slope), Great Basin Floristic Province, n Desert Mountains (Last Chance Range)
Habitat: Rocky slopes, flats, scrub, coniferous forest
Elevation: 900–2600 m.
Flowering time: Mar–Apr
Notes: Many rodent species collect and eat the fruits and cache the seeds. Among Native American groups, the Paiute used this plant for making tea and medicinal remedies, and the Cahuilla considered the fruit a delicacy. Prunus andersonii, a dicot, is a tree or shrub that is native to California and is found only slightly beyond California borders. This photo was taken on May 7, 2006 in Walker Pass, Kern County, California.
We have an online wildflower field guide that is designed to help you identify desert wildflowers by color, scientific name, region and common name. The pictures are sized to work on the iPod, iPhone, iPad and similar devices. With your iPod or phone you will easily be able to identify wildflowers while in the desert. Links for downloads are on the bottom of the Wildflower Field Guide page.
Photo tips: Most digital point-and-shoot cameras have a macro function - usually symbolized by the icon of a little flower. When you turn on that function, you allow your camera to get closer to the subject, looking into a flower for example. Or getting up close and personal with a bug. More on desert photography.
Mojave Desert Wildflowers - This book is the standard by which all other wildflower books are measured. The author, Jon Mark Stewart, has combined super photography with concise information. This book has an entire color page for each wildflower covered, with a discussion of the wildflower. 210 pages with 200 color photos. More...
What's Blooming Now - Check the Wildflower Reports
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