About Prunus brigantina Vill.
Prunus brigantina Vill., commonly known as Briançon apricot, Briançon plum, marmot plum, and Alpine apricot, is a wild tree species native to France and Italy. Its fruit is edible and similar in appearance to the commercial apricot Prunus armeniaca, but its fruit surface is smooth, unlike the fuzzy skin of common apricots. An edible oil called "huile des marmottes" produced from the seed of this species is used in France. There is ongoing scientific disagreement over whether Prunus brigantina should be classified as an apricot or a plum. Chloroplast DNA sequence analysis places this species in the group of plum species, while nuclear DNA sequence data shows it is more closely related to apricot species.
