杏李 xing li

Persica simonii Decaisne; Prunus persica (Linnaeus) Batsch var. nectarina Maximowicz.

Trees 5–8 m tall. Branches purple, glabrous; branchlets pale red, robust, glabrous. Winter buds purplish red, usually glabrous. Stipules linear, margin glandular, apex long acuminate. Petiole 1–1.3 cm, glabrous, apex often with 1 or 2 large nectaries on either side; leaf blade oblong-obovate, oblong-lanceolate, or rarely elliptic, 7–10 × 3–5 cm, glabrous, abaxially pale green, adaxially dark green, base cuneate to broadly cuneate, margin conspicuously crenate or sometimes inconspicuously biserrate, apex acuminate to acute; midvein and secondary veins abaxially conspicuous, adaxially conspicuously impressed, at a less than 45° angle with each other. Flowers 2 or 3 in a fascicle, rarely solitary, 1.5–2 cm in diam. Pedicel 2–5 mm, glabrous. Hypanthium outside glabrous. Sepals oblong, glabrous, margin glandular, apex obtuse. Petals white, oblong, base cuneate and shortly clawed, apex obtuse. Ovary glabrous. Stigma disc-shaped. Drupe red, appressed globose, 3–5(–6) cm in diam., glabrous; mesocarp pale yellow, fragrant; endocarp small, depressed globose, longitudinally grooved. Fl. May, fr. Jun–Jul.

Native in Hebei; widely cultivated in N China.

This species is cultivated for its edible fruit and has many cultivars.