Almond

Where it grows

The almond was domesticated in Central Asia or the Levant from a bitter wild ancestor in which selection for non-toxic kernels was crucial — most wild almonds are deadly. Spanish missionaries brought it to California in the 18th century, and that single state now produces about 80 percent of the world crop.

How to recognise it

A close cousin of the peach, the almond is a small spreading tree with smooth grey-brown bark, lance-shaped serrated leaves, and showy pale pink five-petalled flowers that open in late winter — the famous Mallorcan and Sicilian fioritura. The leathery fruit splits open at maturity to reveal a pitted woody shell containing the edible kernel.

Uses

Almonds are eaten raw, blanched, slivered into baking, and ground into flour. They are blended into almond milk, beaten into marzipan with sugar, and bittered into amaretto liqueur and Italian amaretti biscuits. Cold-pressed sweet almond oil is a cosmetic staple.

Cultivation

California almond orchards depend on more than a million honeybee colonies trucked in every February — the largest managed pollination event on Earth.