Nectarines
Nectarine is a cultivar group of peach that has a smooth, hairless skin. Although fuzzy peaches and nectarines are commercially regarded as different fruits, with nectarines often erroneously believed to be a crossbreed between peaches and plums, or a "peach with a plum skin", they belong to the same species as peaches. Several genetic studies have concluded in fact that nectarines are created due to a recessive gene, whereas a fuzzy peach skin is dominant. Nectarines have arisen many times from peach trees, often as bud sports.
Nectarines can be white or yellow, and clingstone or freestone, although nectarine skins are generally more reddish than those of peaches, contributing to the fruit's plum-like appearance. Regular peach trees occasionally produce a few nectarines, and vice versa. Their flesh is more moist, sweeter and more easily bruised than peaches.
The FAO reports that China and Italy were the top producers of peaches and nectarines in 2005.
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