Prunus is a genus of trees and shrubs – a genus of plants of the Rosaceae family.
Includes about 250 species, distributed mainly in the northern temperate regions of the globe.
Members of the genus can be deciduous or evergreen. A few species have spiny stems.
The leaves are simple, alternate, usually lanceolate, unlobed, and often with nectaries on the leaf stalk along with stipules.
The flowers are usually white to pink, sometimes red, with five petals and five sepals. Numerous stamens are present. Flowers are borne singly, or in umbels of two to six or sometimes more on racemes.
The fruit is a fleshy drupe (a "prune") with a single relatively large, hard-coated seed (a "stone").