Almond trees are deciduous with a hardy dormancy. Typically growing 3–4.5 metres (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.
The sweet almond is cultivated extensively in certain favourable regions, though nut crops are uncertain wherever frosts are likely to occur during flowering. While more than 25 types of almonds are grown in California, Marcona and Valencia almonds come from Spain, and Ferragnes are imported from Greece.