Prunus carduchorum

Description

Prunus carduchorum (Persian: چغالک‎) is a rare species of wild almond native to Turkey, Iraq and Iran, near where the three countries meet. It is a subspinescent shrub 0.5-1.2 mtall. A native of the Eastern Anatolian montane steppe ecoregion, it prefers to grow at 1500 to 3000m above sea level on marl slopes, in degraded oak forests. Genetically it groups with other scrubby almonds from the region. Based on morphology it was thought to yield Prunus × pabotii when crossed with Prunus haussknechtii.