Desert Peach

Prunus andersonii is a deciduous shrub or tree up to 3 metres (10 feet) in height, its tangling branches narrowing to spiny-tipped twigs. Serrated, lance-shaped to oval leaves occur in alternate bundles, each leaf measuring up to 3 centimeters (1 in) long. The inflorescence is a solitary flower or cluster of up to five flowers. Each flower has usually five concave pink petals up to 1 cm (3⁄8 in) long, with many whiskerlike stamens at the center. The flowers bloom before or at the same time as the leaves appear. The fruit is a fuzzy reddish-orange drupe around 1 cm (3⁄8 in) wide. The fruits are fleshy in years with ample moisture and dry in drought years. The seed is a heart-shaped stone. The plant reproduces sexually via germination of the seed and vegetatively by sprouting from its rhizome. One plant may sprout and resprout from its rhizomes to form a very large clone which can spread over several acres.

It is native to eastern California and western Nevada, where it grows in forests and scrub in desert and mountains.

The fruit is reportedly edible. Among Native American groups, the Paiute used the plant for making tea and medicinal remedies, and the Cahuilla considered the fruit a delicacy.