Ronald Reagan, when President of the United States of America, proclaimed August “Peach Month” and called upon the people of the United States to incorporate this nutritious fruit into their diets, and call upon interested groups to celebrate this month with appropriate programs and activities. Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:05 a.m., June 16, 1982.
The peach (Prunus persica) is a species of Prunus native to China that bears an edible juicy fruit also called a peach.
It is a deciduous tree growing to 5–10 m tall, belonging to the subfamily Prunoideae of the family Rosaceae. It is classified with the almond in the subgenus Amygdalus within the genus Prunus, distinguished from the other subgenera by the corrugated seed shell.
The leaves are lanceolate, 7–15 cm long and 2–3 cm broad. The flowers are produced in early spring before the leaves; they are solitary or paired, 2.5–3 cm diameter, pink, with five petals. The fruit is a drupe, with a single large seed encased in hard wood (called the “stone” or “pit”), yellow or whitish flesh, a delicate aroma, and a skin that is either velvety (peaches) or smooth (nectarines) in different cultivars. The flesh is very delicate and easily bruised in some cultivars, but is fairly firm in some commercial cultivars, especially when green. The seed is red-brown, oval shaped and 1.5-2 cm long. Peaches, along with cherries, plums, and apricots, are stone fruits (drupes).
