Plant Wiki

The open plant encyclopedia

Know any plant.
Grow it well.

Snap a photo or search by any name to see how to care for it, where it comes from, whether it's safe, and a 3D model you can turn.

  • 13,000+plants with full pages
  • 365,000+plant species worldwide
  • 220+countries covered

Common in

See all

The plants people record most in your country, and ones that grow there wild.

What do you want to do?

Popular plants

Browse all plants

See them in 3D

All plants in 3D

Browse plants

Filter by what you want to do, shape, origin, country, care and safety.

Plant Wiki › Browse plants

Silver Almond

Prunus argentea

Silver Almond
Photo: Ben Costamagna - https://www.inaturalist.org/people/bencostamagna, CC BY 4.0

Prunus argentea is a thorny wild almond shrub from the Levant to western Iran, grown as an ornamental for its pink blossoms and silvery leaves. It needs a sheltered spot and well-drained soil to do well.

Family
Rosaceae (Rose family)
Grows as
Shrub, Tree
Light
Full sun
Water
Water young plants regularly until established, then allow the soil to dry between waterings.
Soil
Well-drained, neutral to alkaline soil; tolerates poor, rocky or silty ground.
Temperature
Hardy in mild temperate climates; protect from hard frost and cold winds, roughly below -10 °C.
How easy
Moderate
Safety
Toxic to cats and dogs (ASPCA).
Edible
Yes, some parts
Native range
Syria to W. Iran
Climate
temperate

About

Prunus argentea, sometimes called the silver almond, is a species of wild almond found in the Levant, Turkey, Iraq and western Iran. It is a thorny shrub 0.5 to 3 m (1.6 to 9.8 ft) tall, with rough gray or brown bark. Its leaves are silvery white due to a covering of pubescent hairs. The leaves have a 1–5 mm petiole and the leaf blades are 10–44 mm (0.4–1.7 in) long and 10–23 mm (0.4–0.9 in) wide. Its inflorescences have red hypanthia and sepals, and pale pink or pink petals. The flowers are borne on a pedicel about 1 to 3 mm long, which lengthens to 2 to 7 mm when the fruit is fully developed. It is found growing in a variety of habitats; open oak woodlands, rocky slopes, dry silted areas, and steep banks of streams, at 500–2,000 m (1,600–6,600 ft) above sea level. A genetic study showed that its closest relative is probably Prunus haussknechtii.

Uses

In warmer areas of Europe it is occasionally cultivated as an ornamental garden plant for its fragrant rose-pink flowers and attractive foliage, but it must be planted in a protected spot for best results.

Other Prunus plants

Prunus adenopoda · Red stinkwood · Prunus aitchisonii · Alabama cherry · Prunus alaica · Allegheny plum · American plum · Prunus amplifolia · Almond · Desert peach · Chickasaw plum · Prunus annularis

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Prunus argentea by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

Pet safety from the ASPCA toxic and non-toxic plant lists.

Credits & terms

Identify a plant

Point at a leaf or flower and snap. One plant in frame works best.

Your photo
Starting camera…