Editing Peach (section)

=== Cultivars ===
[[File:White peach and cross section edit.jpg|upright=1.3|thumb|White peach of the clingstone variety]]
Hundreds of peach and nectarine cultivars are known. These are classified into two categories—freestones and clingstones. Freestones are those whose flesh separates readily from the pit. Clingstones are those whose flesh clings tightly to the pit. Some cultivars are partially freestone and clingstone, so are called semifree. Freestone types are preferred for eating fresh, while clingstone types are for [[canning]]. The fruit flesh may be creamy white to deep yellow, to dark red; the hue and shade of the color depend on the cultivar.{{sfn|Gao|2000}} The genetic diversity of peach cultivars is highest in China with 495 recognized cultivars.{{sfn|Zheng|Crawford|Chen|2014|p=2}}

Peach breeding has favored cultivars with more firmness, more red color, and shorter fuzz on the fruit surface. These characteristics ease shipping and supermarket sales by improving eye appeal. This selection process has not necessarily led to increased flavor, though. Peaches have a short shelf life, so commercial growers typically plant a mix of different cultivars to have fruit to ship all season long.{{sfn|Okie|2005|p=3}}

==== Nectarines ====
[[File:White nectarine and cross section02 edit.jpg|thumb|White nectarines, whole and cut open]]

The cultivars commonly called ''nectarines'' have a smooth skin. It is on occasion referred to as a "shaved peach" or "fuzzless peach", due to its lack of fuzz or short hairs. Though fuzzy peaches and nectarines are regarded commercially as different fruits, with nectarines often erroneously believed to be a crossbreed between peaches and [[plum]]s, or a "peach with a plum skin", nectarines belong to the same species as peaches. Several genetic studies have concluded nectarines are produced due to a [[recessive allele]], whereas a fuzzy peach skin is [[dominant gene|dominant]].{{sfn|Seelig|Fogle|Hesse|2007}}

As with peaches, nectarines can be white or yellow, and clingstone or freestone. On average, nectarines are slightly smaller and sweeter than peaches, but with much overlap.{{sfn|Seelig|Fogle|Hesse|2007}} The lack of skin fuzz can make nectarine skins appear more reddish than those of peaches, contributing to the fruit's plum-like appearance. The lack of down on nectarines' skin also means their skin is more easily bruised than peaches.

The history of the nectarine is unclear; the first recorded mention in English is from 1611,{{sfn|OED 2025a}} but they had probably been grown much earlier within the native range of the peach in central and eastern Asia. A number of colonial-era newspaper articles make reference to nectarines being grown in the United States prior to the Revolutionary War. The 28 March 1768 edition of the ''New York Gazette'' (p.&nbsp;3), for example, mentions a farm in Jamaica, Long Island, New York, where nectarines were grown. Later, cultivars of higher quality with better shipping qualities were introduced to the United States by [[David Fairchild]] of the Department of Agriculture in 1906.{{sfn|Fairchild|Kay|Kay|1938|p=226}}

==== Peacherines ====
Peacherines are claimed to be a cross between a peach and a nectarine,{{sfn|Shimabukuro|2004}} but as they are the same species cannot be a true cross (hybrid); they are sometimes marketed in Australia and New Zealand.{{sfn|Clark|2013|p=21}} The linguist [[Louise Pound]], in 1920, wrote that the term peacherine is an example of language stunt.{{sfn|Pound|1920|p=89}}

==== Flat peaches ====
{{Main|Flat peach}}
Flat peaches, or ''pan-tao'', have a flattened shape, in contrast to ordinary near-spherical peaches.{{sfn|Bassi|Monet|2008|p=16}}

==== Ornamentals ====
Peach trees are also grown for ornamental value in gardens, but trees specifically selected for this purpose have small, inedible fruits.{{sfn|Davis|1997|p=54}}

{| class="wikitable"  style="float:right; width:13em; text-align:center;"
|-
! colspan=2|Peach (and nectarine) production in 2023<br>
<small>(millions of tonnes)</small><br/>
|-
| {{CHN}}  || 17.5
|-
| {{ESP}}  || 1.4
|-
| {{TUR}}  || 1.1
|-
| {{ITA}}  || 1.0
|-
| {{USA}}  || 0.7
|-
| {{IRN}}  || 0.6
|-
!'''World''' !! | '''27.1'''
|-
|colspan=2|<small>Source: United Nations, FAOSTAT{{sfn|FAOSTAT|2024}}</small>
|}