Details of Medicinal Plants

Apricot

Armeniaca vulgaris Lam. var. ansu (Maxim.) T.T.Yü et L.T.Lu Rosaceae

This species is found in North China. It is a deciduous bushy tree. The height is about 5 meters. The flowering time is in late March in Japan and, after that, the leaves emerge.
It is cultivated for fruits in Japan. We eat raw, dry and glazed apricots and make apricot jam. Seeds are used to flavor almond jelly.

Part used: seed
Medicinal use: antitussive and expectorant
Main component: amygdalin

The flower is a light showy pink and blooms a little before Somei-Yoshino cherry flowers (Cerasus yedoensis A.V.Vassil.) .

The fruit ripens in late June and contains a hard pit.

The seed (left) inside the nucleus is used for an herbal medicine called "Apricot Kernel" .