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Prunus persica

Authority	(L.)Batsch
Family	Magnoliopsida:Rosidae:Rosales:Rosaceae
Synonyms	Amygdalus persica Linn., Prunus persica Stokes, Prunus persicae Stokes
Common names	bonanza peach, clingstone peach, freestone peach, melocoton, peach, pêche, pesca, pessego, Pfirsich, red Ceylon peach, red haven peach, Rio Oso gem peach, Semen Persicae
Editor
Ecocrop code	1796

Notes
BRIEF DESCRIPTION A shrub or small deciduous tree reaching up to 8 m in height. The fruit is 3-8 cm in diameter, fleshy and yellow to red. USES The fruit can be used fresh, canned, dried, or frozen. The tree is grown as an ornamental and mentioned as a useful agroforestry species. KILLING T Opened flowers are killed by frosts and the tree may be killed at temperatures about -5°C. GROWING PERIOD Perennial deciduous tree, that bear after 2-4 years and with an economic life of 8-12 years. Period per year about 300-330 days. COMMON NAMES Peach, Nectarine, Brugnon, Pecher, Persik, Peras, Khai, Makmuan, Tho, Hung mon, Dao. FURTHER INF Scientific synonym: Amygdalus persica, Persica vulgaris. Peach is native of Iran or China. It thrive best in areas with medium to low relative air humidity, but the trees must have continuous soil moisture during the growing season. Areas that regularly have late spring frosts are not suitable for peach production. The trees usually require 100-400 hours with temperatures less than 5-7°C to overcome the dormancy period, some varieties, however, require less winter chilling. It can be grown in tropical highlands in seasonal climate at elevations between 1200-2000 m and in the subtropics. The kernels are toxic. A bee population is needed for pollination. Humid conditions during the ripening of the fruit are undesirable because they favour the development of brown rot. Late frosts may kill flowers and summer rains may lead to diseases. Annual fruit yields may be between 10-25 t/ha.
Sources
SOURCES (P. persica (L.) Batsch) Sims D (pers. comm.) Roecklein J 1987 pp 231 [USE, DRA] Hartmann T 1981 pp 598-600 [KTMP, DEP, FER, DRA, TEXT, RAIN] Rehm S 1991 pp 203-204 [DEP, DRA, TEXT, RAIN, SAL, PH] Duke J 1979 pp 100 [PH, RAIN, TEMP] Hackett C 1982 pp 100 [FER, PHO, DEP, PH, TEXT, TEMP] Nair P 1984 pp 23 [RAIN, TEMP, TEXT, DEP, DRA, PH, USE] Rice R 1990 pp 158-159 [USE] Hockings E 1961b pp 141-150 [KTMP, TEMP, LIMIT, RAIN, TEXT, DRA, DEP] Verheij E 1991 pp 262-266 [USE, TEXT, DEP, DRA, PH]