Prunus scoparia | |
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Prunus scoparia fruit on a tree in the Gilazard valley | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Rosales |
Family: | Rosaceae |
Genus: | Prunus |
Species: | P. scoparia
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Binomial name | |
Prunus scoparia (Spach)
C.K.Schneid.
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Synonyms | |
Amygdalus scoparia Spach |
Prunus scoparia is a wild almond primarily found in the Zagros forests of Iran [1] but also distributed across Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Afghanistan.[ citation needed] It is a xerophytic shrub and it has been used as a grafting stock for domesticated almonds to provide drought resistance. [2] [3]
Its seeds are consumed by rural Iranians as a cheap source of high-quality protein. [1] Its leaves are the primary food of the larvae of Parornix turcmeniella moths. In recent scholarship, it is sometimes referenced as Persian gum after the model of gum arabic, [4] although this name is also used for the commercially unimportant P. lycioides [1] and for the resin of the unrelated Astragalus sarcocolla.