Plant: Small to medium sized tree with spreading, dense canopy; leaves are shaped somewhat like a heart, with pointed tips, about 8 cm (1/3 inch) wide.
Fruit: The fruit has only one seed; the color runs from yellow to orange and may have a red cast; the surface of the fruit is smooth and nearly hairless.
Origin
The apricot originated in northeastern China near the Armenia as the scientific name suggests. It did arrive in Armenia after moving through central Asia, which took about 3,000 years. The Romans brought it into Europe through Spanish Missionaries. Turkey provides 85 percent of the world's dried apricot and apricot kernels today.
Most people may think that Apricots are grown from seeds but they are most often grafted on root stock. A cutting of an existing Apricot plant provides the fruit characteristics such as flavor, size etc. but the root stock provides the growth and disease fighting characteristics of the plant.
In Europe, apricots were long considered an aphrodisiac, and is used in this context in William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, and as an inducer of labour, used in John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi for this purpose.
Apricotseeds contain the highest amounts of these cyanide generating compounds, and the cancer drug laetrile is derived from this source.
Apricot culture is most successful in mild, Mediterranean climates where the danger of spring frost is limited, and disease pressure is reduced.
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