Prunus brigantina, called Briançon apricot (French: Abricotier de Briançon), Briançon plum (French: Prunier de Briançon), marmot plum (French: Marmottier), and Alpine apricot,[2] is a wild tree species native to France and Italy.[3][4] Its fruit is edible and similar to the commercial apricot P. armeniaca,[5] but it is smooth unlike apricots.[6] An edible oil produced from the seed, 'huile des marmottes', is used in France.[5]
It is disputed whether P. brigantina is an apricot or a plum. It is grouped with plum species according to chloroplast DNA sequences,[7] but more closely related to apricot species according to nuclear DNA sequences.[8]
^Tutin, T. G.; Heywood, V. H.; Burges, N. A.; Moore, D. M.; Valentine, D. H.; Walters, S. M.; Webb, D. A. (1968). Flora Europaea. Vol. 2. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. p. 78. ISBN978-0-521-06662-4.