Prunus kansuensis

Kansu Peach (Prunus kansuensis Rehder)

Prunus kansuensis Rehder is a plant species belonging to the genus Prunus in the family Rosaceae. It grows as a tree or shrub, reaching 3–7 meters in height. The branchlets are slender and glabrous, colored green-brown and turning reddish-brown on the side exposed to the sun, with inconspicuous lenticels. The winter buds are ovate to long-ovate with slightly obtuse apices and are glabrous. The leaf blades are ovate-lanceolate or lanceolate, measuring 5–12 cm in length and 1.5–3.5 cm in width.

The flowers are solitary and bloom before the leaves emerge, with a diameter of 2–3 cm. The pedicels are extremely short or nearly absent. The calyx tube is campanulate (bell-shaped), externally pubescent or rarely nearly glabrous, with sepals that are ovate to ovate-oblong. The stone (endocarp) is subglobose and distinctly compressed on both sides, with an obtuse apex and a nearly truncate base. Its surface is marked by shallow longitudinal and transverse furrows but lacks pits.

Distribution and Habitat: This species is distributed in the Shanxi, Gansu, Hubei, and Sichuan provinces of China. It typically grows in mountainous regions at elevations ranging from 1,000 to 2,300 meters.