Object: Peach Tree

Image Credits

Adriean Coortee  - 1683–1707,  Still LIfe with peaches, cherries _ 1685

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Prunus persica, the peach tree was especially enjoyed for its abundant annual harvest.   Peaches were introduced to the Americas by Spanish explorers in the 16th Century, were present in England and France in the 17th century.  Indigenous people were cultivating peaches in Virginia at least as early as 1620's.   

Peaches had naturalized and become part of the landscape, but were also cultivated extensively by the Indigenous people, and the European settlers.   The infamous Peach War, resulted when a European settler killed a Native American woman for taking peaches in his orchard.  

See a detailed article on the archeology of plant life in New Amsterdam by Joel Grossman, PhD., courtesy of the Holland Society of New York  here.