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Briançon Apricot

Prunus brigantina

Also called Alpine Apricot

Briançon Apricot
Photo: Pancrace Bessa, Public domain

Briançon apricot is a wild tree or large shrub native to the Alps of France and Italy, where it is valued for its edible fruit and seed oil. It is hardy and grown mainly in cold mountain climates.

Family
Rosaceae (Rose family)
Grows as
Tree
Light
Full sun
Water
Water young plants regularly until established, then water sparingly, as it tolerates dry mountain conditions.
Soil
Well-drained, gritty or stony soil; tolerates poor, alkaline soils.
Temperature
Very cold hardy; tolerates winter lows well below -20 °C once established.
How easy
Easy
Safety
Not known to be toxic. Toxic to cats and dogs (ASPCA).
Edible
Yes, some parts
Native range
Frence to NW. Italy
Climate
temperate

About

Prunus brigantina, called Briançon apricot (French: Abricotier de Briançon), Briançon plum (French: Prunier de Briançon), marmot plum (French: Marmottier), and Alpine apricot, is a wild tree species native to France and Italy. Its fruit is edible and similar to the commercial apricot P. armeniaca, but it is smooth unlike apricots. An edible oil produced from the seed, 'huile des marmottes', is used in France.

It is disputed whether P. brigantina is an apricot or a plum. It is grouped with plum species according to chloroplast DNA sequences, but more closely related to apricot species according to nuclear DNA sequences.

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 brigantina 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.

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