Editing Peach (section)

== Description ==
The peach is a [[deciduous]] tree or tree like shrub that may very rarely grow to as much as {{convert|10|m|ft|0|spell=us}} tall, but is more typically {{cvt|3|m|ft|0}} with large specimens reaching {{cvt|4|m|ft|0}}.{{sfn|Rohrer 2020b}}{{sfn|Welsh|Atwood|Goodrich|Higgins|1987|p=538}} The spread of the [[Crown (botany)|crown]] is similar to the height, ranging from 3 to 4&nbsp;meters.{{sfn|Thakur et al. 2024|p=101}} They never produce [[Basal shoot|suckers]] or have thorns.{{sfn|Rohrer 2020b}} Unlike with [[apple]]s the size of peach trees is not generally controlled by dwarfing [[rootstock]]s in commercial orchards.{{sfn|Byrne et al. 2009|p=530}} A great variety of growth habits have been selected including [[fastigiate|columnar]], [[Dwarfing#Plants|dwarf]], spreading, and [[Weeping tree|weeping]].{{sfn|Thakur et al. 2024|p=101}} In order to have a single trunk trees must pruned and likewise the branches have a tendance to droop over time and must be trained to allow for access under the tree.{{sfn|Gilman|Watson|1994|p=2}} The bark on the trunk and branches is dark gray with horizontal [[lenticel]]s. It becomes more scaly and rough as the tree becomes older.{{sfn|NC State Extension}} The root system is deep on peach trees and the roots of peach trees continue to grow during the winter season.{{sfn|Thakur et al. 2024|p=101}}{{sfn|Crider|1928|p=403}}

Twigs on peach trees have a smooth, hairless surface, the bark is usually red, but may be green on the sides not exposed to the sun.{{sfn|Krüssmann|1986|pp=42}} As they become older branchlets weather to gray in color.{{sfn|Heil et al. 2013|p=915}} Twigs have true [[terminal bud]]s at their ends.{{sfn|Rohrer 2020b}}

Peach leaves are [[oblong leaf|oblong]] to [[lanceolate]], having sides nearly parallel until tapering at end and base or shaped like the head of a spear.{{sfn|Rohrer 2020b}} The widest portion of the leaf is midway or further towards the leaf tip.{{sfn|Krüssmann|1986|pp=42}} Each leaf folds along the central rib of the leaf and is often also curved, usually {{convert|7–15|cm|in|0|spell=us}} long and {{cvt|2–4.5|cm|in|0}} wide, though occasionally they may be shorter.{{sfn|Rohrer 2020b}} The surface of the leaves is smooth and hairless, but the leaf stem sometimes has glands.{{sfn|Krüssmann|1986|pp=42}} The edges of the leaves have serrated edges with blunt teeth.{{sfn|Rohrer 2020b}} The teeth have a reddish-brown gland at the tip.{{sfn|WFO 2024}} Leaves are attached to the twigs by [[Petiole (botany)|petioles]], leaf stems. They are strong and measure 1 to 2&nbsp;cm. They can also have one or more [[extrafloral nectaries]].{{sfn|Lingdi|Bartholomew|2003}}

=== Flowering ===
[[File:Prunus persica in Aveyron (2).jpg|thumb|left|Peach flower and buds, [[Le Fel]], [[Aveyron]], France]]
Flowers on peach trees are either solitary or in groups of two and usually bloom before the leaves begin to grow.{{sfn|Krüssmann|1986|pp=42}} They may range in shades from white to red,{{sfn|Heil et al. 2013|p=915}} but having pink or red flowers 2–3.5&nbsp;cm in width is typical of [[cultivar]]s selected for their fruit.{{sfn|Krüssmann|1986|pp=42}} Trees grown as [[Ornamental plant|ornamentals]] also may have [[double flower]]s, semi-doubled flowers, or bicolored forms.{{sfn|Gilman|Watson|1994|p=1}} Each flower has four or five petals and is somewhat cup shaped with the petals curving to shelter the flower's center.{{sfn|NC State Extension}} Each flower will have 20 to 30 [[stamen]]s and purple-red [[anther]]s at their ends. The single [[Style (botany)|style]] is nearly as long as the stamens.{{sfn|Lingdi|Bartholomew|2003}} The flowers are self-fertile and [[outcross]] at about 5%.{{sfn|Zheng|Crawford|Chen|2014|p=2}}

The bloom period is in the early spring, often cut short by frosts, in February, March, April, or May depending on location.{{sfn|Blackburne-Maze|2003|p=108}}{{sfn|Heil et al. 2013|p=915}} Correspondingly in August or October in New Zealand in the southern hemisphere.{{sfn|Given et al. 2024}}

=== Fruit ===
Trees can begin producing fruit in the two or three years after sprouting.{{sfn|Zheng|Crawford|Chen|2014|p=2–3}} Because of the hardness of the seed casing peaches are called stone fruits like the others in the ''Prunus'' genus, but are more formally called [[drupe]]s.{{sfn|Thakur et al. 2024|p=101}} Fruits range in color from greenish white to orange yellow, usually with a blush of red on the side of the fruit most exposed to the sun. Their shape varies wildly from a flattened sphere resembling a doughnut, egg shaped, or a slightly compressed sphere usually with a seam on one side. A normal diameter for a fruit is between {{convert|5 and 7|cm|0|sp=us}}, but sometimes they may be as small as {{cvt|3|cm}} or as large as {{cvt|12|cm}}.{{sfn|Lingdi|Bartholomew|2003}}

[[Image:Drupe fruit diagram.svg|lang=en|thumb|upright=1.25|Diagram of a peach, showing both fruit and seed]]
The flesh of the peach is quite variable in color from greenish-white to white to yellow to dark red.{{sfn|Byrne et al. 2009|p=532}} The texture can also differ, melting, nonmelting, or stony hard all possible.{{sfn|Byrne et al. 2009|p=507}}

The growth of the fruit is a double-sigmoid growth curve: a beginning quick period of development followed by a resting period of little growth and then a second period of rapid growth.{{sfn|Faust|Timon|1995|p=334}}

The seed of the peach is much larger and less round than the seeds of its closest living relatives.{{sfn|Zheng|Crawford|Chen|2014|p=3}} Unlike the pit of an almond, which is only pitted, the peach pit's stony exterior is both pitted and deeply furrowed.{{sfn|Given et al. 2024}}