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Almond trees are deciduous with a hardy dormancy. Typically growing 3–4.5 meters (10–15 feet) tall, the trees are strikingly beautiful when in flower; they produce fragrant, five-petaled, light pink to white flowers from late January to early April north of the Equator. The flowers are self-incompatible and thus require insect pollinators to facilitate cross-pollination with other cultivars. The growing fruit (a drupe) resembles a peach until it approaches maturity; as it ripens, the leathery outer covering, or hull, splits open, curls outward, and discharges the pit. Despite their common label, almonds are not true nuts (a type of dry fruit) but rather seeds enclosed in a hard fruit covering.
