Desert peach

Photo: Wikimedia Commons — Public domain · source

Survives zone 5 through 9

Harvest calendar

Best planted in early spring after your last frost, or in fall before the ground freezes, depending on your climate.

A true desert-mountain wild peach of the Great Basin, growing among sagebrush, pinyon and juniper at 900–2,400 m. Rarely more than 2.5 cm across, but considered a genuine delicacy — peach-like fuzz and flavour in miniature. ⚠ Kernels/pits cyanogenic; avoid if bitter-tasting.

Hardiness

Zone 5–9

Habit

Shrub

Edible part

Fruit

Ripens

July–Aug

Mature size

Fast-growing shrub to 1.8 m (6 ft)

Light

Full sun

Soil pH

6.0–8.0 (neutral to alkaline) — wants sandy or decomposed-granite soil

Environment

Desert to montane

Native range

Eastern California and western Nevada — dry rocky slopes and desert scrub, 900–2,400 m elevation.

Status

Wild

Years to fruit

3–4 yrs

Growth speed

Fast

Spacing

250 cm (98 in) apart — about 6.3 m² (67 sq ft) per plant

Leaf shape

Alternate, narrow and small, 1–2.5 cm, clustered on short spurs along rigid spine-tipped twigs — a desert shrub's foliage, dropped early in drought.

Root system

Deep and drought-hardy, with the spreading laterals typical of Great Basin shrubs; suckers modestly to form colonies.

Fruit description

Small, fuzzy, peach- or apricot-like, rarely over 2.5 cm

Propagation

Seed (2–3 months cold stratification, up to 18 months to germinate), half-ripe cuttings in July–August, softwood cuttings in spring, or layering.

Pollination

Insect-pollinated.

The edible parts listed above are a starting point, not a field guide. Identify a plant with certainty — ideally against a local authority — before eating any part of it, and read the full disclaimer. Spotted something wrong? Report it.