Prunus lycioides (Persian: تنگرس, lit.'biting thorn'), sometimes known as Persian gum,[3] is a species of wild almond native to Turkey, northern Syria and Iran. It is a very thorny and dense shrub 0.6 to 1.2 m tall. Its bark is gray and its flower petals are pink to deep pink, with its sepals and hypanthia deep red to purple. It is morphologically similar to Prunus erioclada, P. spinosissima, P. eburnea and P. brahuica. It can be distinguished from the similar species by its longer, narrower leaves, which are linear, linear‑lanceolate, or linear‑oblanceolate, and by subtle characters of its endocarp.[4] Adapted to extremely dry conditions, it is found growing in a wide variety of arid and semiarid habitats, at 450 to 2200 m above sea level.[4][5]

Prunus lycioides
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae
Genus: Prunus
Subgenus: Prunus subg. Amygdalus
Species:
P. lycioides
Binomial name
Prunus lycioides
Synonyms
  • Amygdalus lycioides Spach[2]
  • Amygdalopsis lycioides (Spach) M.J. Roem.
  • Amygdalus horrida Spach
  • Amygdalopsis horrida (Spach) M. J. Roem.
  • Amygdalus lycioides var. horrida (Spach) Browicz
  • Amygdalus horrida Spach var. reuteri Boiss.
  • Amygdalus reuteri Boiss. & Buhse

References edit

  1. ^ Ill. Handb. Laubholzk. 1: 600. 1906
  2. ^ Ann. Sci. Nat., Bot. ser. 2, 19: 120. 1843
  3. ^ Abbasi, Soleiman; et al. (May 2018), "Persian Gum: A Comprehensive Review on Its Physicochemical and Functional Properties", Food Hydrocolloids, vol. 78, pp. 92–99, doi:10.1016/j.foodhyd.2017.06.006.
  4. ^ a b Yazbek, Mariana Mostafa (February 2010). Systematics of Prunus Subgenus Amygdalus: Monograph and Phylogeny (PDF) (PhD). Cornell University. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
  5. ^ "Filed as Prunus lycioides Spach [family ROSACEAE]".