Prunus carduchorum facts for kids

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 m tall. A native of the Eastern Anatolian montane steppe ecoregion, it prefers to grow at 1500 to 3000 m 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.

Etymology

The specific epithet, carduchorum, means "of the Carduchi, the wild tribesman of Kurdistan who so severely harried Xenophon and the Ten Thousand".