The fruit has yellow or whitish flesh, a delicate aroma, and a skin that is either velvety (peaches) or smooth (nectarines) in different cultivars. The flesh is very delicate and easily bruised in some cultivars, but is fairly firm in some commercial varieties, especially when green.
Peaches, along with cherries, plums and apricots, are stone fruits (drupes). There are various heirloom varieties, including the Indian Peach, or Indian Blood Peach, which arrives in the latter part of the summer, and can have color ranging from red and white, to purple.
Fun Fact: Spaniards brought peaches to South America and the French introduced them to Louisiana.
An apricot is a fruit, or the tree that bears the fruit, of several species in the genus Prunus (stone fruits). Usually, an apricot tree is from the species P. armeniaca, but the species P. brigantina, P. mandshurica, P. mume, and P. sibirica are closely related, have similar fruit, and are also called apricots.
Nice Tip: Refrigerating apricots will dramatically impair their ripening process. Leave them out at room temperature until they are ripe, then refrigerate them.