Is it an almond tree or an almond nut? Well, it is actually both. Almond is the name of the fruit from the almond tree. The almond fruit is more familiar with the almond nut, but it does not make it botanically right. The almond nut is not actually a nut, it is a drupe. The almond tree itself is not the family of the nut trees, however it belongs to the family of rose that is very closely related to the likes of a peach tree.
The rose family is commonly grown for its decorative properties. This also goes with the almond tree. Not only that the almond tree is planted for its fruits, but it is also grown for its beauty. The almond trees are not like the nut plants as it can reach about 9 meters/ 30 feet in height. Before the tree bears fruits, it features the beautiful white and pink blossoms. The tree usually blossoms early every year, from January to April. As it blossoms in the chilly months, there are high possibility that the blossoms would be destroyed by the chilly frosts of winter.
The almond tree can grow in so many regions; however they love the Mediterranean regions which is warm. The perfect examples of the Mediterranean regions as well as the Central Asia. The almond tree has been grown in the Central Asia for more than 4000 years. However, it is not becoming today’s almond production area. In fact, the almond nut usually comes from areas such as the United States, China, Iran, Spain, Greece, Turkey, Tunisia and also China. For United States, the most almond production comes from California in which the weather is so much similar to the Mediterranean regions.
Many people may not know that there are two kinds of almond trees. One of them has the ability to produce the nut that is sweet and edible, on the contrary the other type produces bitter and inedible nuts. The first almond type is used for food and also different types of food products, especially delicacies and also chocolate mixture.
The sweet almond is simply tasty when combined into the chocolate. Beside the nut, the almond can also be used for oil and the oil can be used for cosmetics because it is believed to be good for the skin, as lubricants for different delicate mechanisms, the medicine as well as gentle lazative. Not only the content, the shells of the nuts can also be used for fuel and also cattle feed.
