General: Desert Almond (Prunus fasciculata) are robust, twiggy shrubs almost always found along washes. The species is deciduous, but even without leaves, this twiggy shrub with angular joints and spiny tips is recognizable.

Desert Almond is a common component of wash communities in the Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub and Pinyon-Juniper Woodland) life zones.

Family: Rose (Rosaceae).

Other names: Desert Peach

Plant Form: A widely branched shrub growing in clumps and thickets along the rocky washes.

Height: Usually grows 3-5 feet tall (to 6 feet).

Bark: Gray

Stems: Many branches; short and rigid, occurring at widely diverging angles, with a spiny tip.

Leaves: Narrow (1-3 mm wide), 1/3 to 1/2 inch long, and entire; grouped in clusters on short lateral branchlets (i.e., fasciculated).

Flowers: Flowers during spring. Flowers are small, white to yellowish; grow from leaf axils.

Fruit and Seeds: Fruit resembles a small, fuzzy peach; about 1/2 inch long; covered with dense, brown hairs. Seed surrounded by a thin, dry pulp.

Habitat: Dry, well-drained sandy, gravelly, and rocky soils along washes; occasionally found away from washes on rocky hillsides.

Elevation: Generally 3,000 to 6,500.

Distribution: Utah to Baja California

Comments: This is one of the species most often seen along washes around Las Vegas.