Apricot is the fruit of many Prunus species or the tree that yields the fruit (stone fruits).

Apricots are usually from the Prunus armeniaca species; however, the fruits of other Prunus sects. Armeniaca species are sometimes called apricots.

Apricot was originally recorded in English in the 16th century as Babcock, from the Middle French aubercot, or subsequently as Labrecque, from Portuguese. Gaspard Bauhin originally used the specific name armeniaca in his Pinax Theatri Botanici (1623), referring to the species as Mala armeniaca, or “Armenian apple.” In the first edition of his Species Plantarum in 1753, Linnaeus used Bauhin’s epithet, Prunus armeniaca.

The apricot tree is a small tree with a trunk up to 40 cm (16 in) in diameter and a thick, spreading canopy, growing to a height of 8″12 m (26″39 ft). The leaves are oval with a rounded base, pointed tip, and finely serrated edge, measuring 5″9 cm (2.0″3.5 in) long and 4″8 cm (1.6″3.1 in) broad. The blooms are 2″4.5 cm (0.8″1.8 in) in diameter and have five white to pinkish petals; they bloom alone or in pairs before the leaves appear in early spring. The fruit is a drupe the size of a small peach, 1.5″2.5 cm (0.6″1.0 in) in diameter (bigger in some modern varieties), yellow to orange in color, frequently tinted crimson on the sun-exposed side; the surface can be smooth (botanically characterized as glabrous) or velvety with very short hairs (botanically: pubescent). The flesh is generally hard and lacks a lot of moisture. Its flavor ranges from sweet to sour. The single seed is protected by a hard, rocky shell, known as a “stone” or “kernel,” that is grainy and smooth except for three ridges running along one side.

The most widely grown apricot, P. armeniaca, was first discovered in Armenia in ancient times and has been farmed there for so long that it was formerly considered to have originated there, thus the scientific name’s epithet. Genetic findings, on the other hand, corroborate Nikolai Vavilov’s idea that P. Armeniaca was domesticated in Central Asia and China. The domesticated apricot then spread east to Japan, south to South Asia, west to West Asia (including Armenia), Europe, and North Africa.

Apricots require 300 to 900 cooling units to be properly chilled. Fruit maturation benefits from a dry environment. If healthy, the tree is somewhat more cold-hardy than the peach, enduring winter temperatures as low as 30 °C (22 °F). USDA zones 5 through 8 are suitable for them. Spring frosts are a limiting issue in apricot cultivation: they blossom early (in early March in western Europe). Thus frost can destroy the flowers. Furthermore, throughout the winter season, the trees are susceptible to temperature fluctuations. Winters in China may be bitterly cold, although temperatures are more consistent than in Europe and, particularly, North America, where significant temperature fluctuations are common.

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