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nectarine

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.06 sec.
nectarine (nĕk'tərēn`), name for a tree (Prunus persica var. nectarina) of the family Rosaceae (rose rose, common name for some members of the Rosaceae, a large family of herbs, shrubs, and trees distributed over most of the earth, and for plants of the genus Rosa, the true roses.
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 family) and for its fruit, a smooth-skinned variety of the peach. The nectarine is a classical example of bud variation (see mutation mutation, in biology, a sudden, random change in a gene , or unit of hereditary material, that can alter an inheritable characteristic. Most mutations are not beneficial, since any change in the delicate balance of an organism having a high level of adaptation to its
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). The nectarine tree occasionally produces peaches, and the peach tree nectarines. In appearance, culture, and care the nectarine is almost identical to the peach. It is cultivated in north temperate zones of both hemispheres, in America chiefly in the mild Pacific coastal area. The nectarine has been known for at least 2,000 years; in the 16th cent. it was called the nut of Persia. Nectarines are classified in the division Magnoliophyta Magnoliophyta (măg'nōlēŏf`ətə)
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, class Magnoliopsida, order Rosales, family Rosaceae.

nectarine

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Nectarine (Prunus persica var. nectarina)
(credit: J.C. Allen and Son)
Smooth-skinned peach (Prunus persica ‘nectarina'), grown throughout warmer temperate regions. They result when some peaches self-pollinate or are crossed so that they express a genetic factor for smooth skin. Nectarines are commonly eaten fresh or cooked in desserts and jams; they are a good source of vitamins A and C.


nectarine
a variety of peach tree, Prunus persica nectarina


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And now Spring beckons me with verdant hand, And Nature's wealth of eloquence doth win Forth to the fragrant-bowered nectarine, Where my dear friends abide, a careless band.
Last year I had four apricots -- they stole one, I had one nectarine, only one -- well, sir, they ate half of it on the wall; a splendid nectarine -- I never ate a better.
Numerous cottages were surrounded by vines, and by orchards of apple, nectarine, and peach-trees -- their boughs breaking with the weight of the beautiful ripe fruit.
 
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