PRUNUS WEBBII

Family and Genus:- See- ROSACEAE

Common Names:- Wild almond

Homotypic Synonyms:- Amygdalus salicifolia, Amygdalus webbii.

Meaning:- Prunus The ancient Latin name for the plum tree.

Webbii (L) Either for Philip Barker Webb (1715-87) or Captain W.S.

Webb.

General description:- Shrub or tree up to 8 m, wild plants spiny and branches

widely divergent.

Twigs:-

1) Glabrous, brownish-yellow or dark brown.

Leaves:-

1) Lamina, 15-35 mm, lanceolate or narrowly oblong, shallowly crenate-serrate,

both surfaces bright green and glabrous, or the lower sparsely hairy.

2) Petiole, 5-11 mm.

Flowers:-

1) Mostly in pairs, shortly pedicellate.

2) Petals, 9-13 mm, pale rose-pink, bright pink in bud, fading to pale pink or almost

white.

3) Sepals, tomentose, at least on the margin.

4) Calyx and lower part of the filaments, often more intensely purplish-pink.

4) Hypanthium, broadly campanulate,

Fruit:-

1) Drupe, 12-25 mm, compressed, narrowly ovoid, greyish-tomentose, mesocarp

coriaceous, splitting at maturity; endocarp pitted.

Key features:-

1) Twigs, glabrous, also when young.

2) Lamina, lanceolate or narrowly oblong.

Click here for a glossary of terms used

Habitat:- Rocky limestone slopes with dry open shrubby vegetation, scrubland

vegetation, deciduous oak scrub, edges of fields and orchard. 0-1000(-1400) m.

Distribution:- Almost throughout mainland Greece, Peloponnisos and the Ionian

Islands. - S & C Balkans and eastwards to N & C Anatolia. Widespread and

common on Crete.

Flowering time:- Jan-Apr.

Photos by:- Steve Lenton