Dry Fruits
Apricot
Apricot trees are small and spreading, with broad ovate leaves that have pointed tips. The leaves are bright green in colour and are held erect on the twigs. The self-pollinated flowers are white in full bloom and borne singly or doubly at a node on very short stems. The fruits are drupes with a large, flat pit, or stone, within which is the seed. Similar in shape to a peach, the fruit is nearly smooth, round to oblong in some varieties, and somewhat flattened but with little to no hairiness when ripe. Its flesh is typically a rich yellow to yellowish orange. The seeds (also called kernels) of several varieties are sweet, though they are poisonous until roasted.
Apricots are propagated by budding on peach or apricot rootstocks, and peaches, plums, and apricots may be readily intergrafted. The tree succeeds in a well-drained loamy soil, preferably light rather than heavy. Most varieties withstand winter cold as well as peaches, but the blossom buds, opening earlier than those of the peach, are frequently killed by late freezes. The trees are quite drought-resistant and under favourable growing conditions are long-lived, some living 100 years or longer.