Armenian Highlands lands, including Cilicia. The apricot was known by the Romans as the "prunus armenicus" (the Armenian plum) and was brought to Europe from the Armenian plateau. Armenian Highlands The Armenian Highlands (; also known as the Armenian Upland, Armenian plateau, Armenian tableland, or simply Armenia) is the central-most and highest of three land-locked plateaus that together form the northern sector of the Middle East. To its west is the Anatolian plateau which rises slowly from the lowland coast of the Aegean Sea and converges with the Armenian Highlands to the east of Cappadocia. To its southeast is the Iranian plateau,
Date-plum genus. Its English name probably derives from Persian "Khormaloo" خرمالو literally "date-plum", referring to the taste of this fruit which is reminiscent of both plums and dates. This species is one candidate for the "lotus tree" mentioned in "The Odyssey": it was so delicious that those who ate it forgot about returning home and wanted to stay and eat lotus with the lotus-eaters. The tree grows in the lower and middle mountain zones in the Caucasus. They usually grow up to 600 m above sea level. In Central Asia, it rises higher—up to 2000 m. They rarely grow in stands