05/04/2023
A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus Prunus, and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit).
Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet Prunus avium and the sour Prunus cerasus. The name 'cherry' also refers to the cherry tree and its wood, and is sometimes applied to almonds and visually similar flowering trees in the genus Prunus, as in "ornamental cherry" or "cherry blossom". Wild cherry may refer to any of the cherry species growing outside cultivation, although Prunus avium is often referred to specifically by the name "wild cherry" in the British Isles.
Botany
True cherries
Main article: Prunus subg. Cerasus
Prunus cerasus, sour cherry (a true cherry species)
Germersdorfer variety cherry tree in blossom
Prunus subg. Cerasus contains species that are typically called cherries. They are known as true cherries[1] and distinguished by having a single winter bud per axil, by having the flowers in small corymbs or umbels of several together (occasionally solitary, e.g. P. serrula; some species with short racemes, e.g. P. maacki), and by having smooth fruit with no obvious groove.[2] Examples of true cherries are:
Prunus apetala (Siebold & Zucc.) Franch. & Sav. – clove cherry
Prunus avium (L.) L. – sweet cherry, wild cherry, mazzard or gean
Prunus campanulata Maxim. – Taiwan cherry, Formosan cherry or bell-flowered cherry
Prunus canescens Bois. – grey-leaf cherry
Prunus cerasus L. – sour cherry
Prunus emarginata (Douglas ex Hook.) Walp. – Oregon cherry or bitter cherry
Prunus fruticosa Pall. – European dwarf cherry, dwarf cherry, Mongolian cherry or steppe cherry
Prunus incisa Thunb. – Fuji cherry
Prunus jamasakura Siebold ex Koidz. – Japanese mountain cherry or Japanese hill cherry
Prunus leveilleana (Koidz.) Koehne – Korean mountain cherry
Prunus maackii Rupr. – Manchurian cherry or Amur chokecherry
Prunus mahaleb L. – Saint Lucie cherry, rock cherry, perfumed cherry or mahaleb cherry
Prunus maximowiczii Rupr. – Miyama cherry or Korean cherry
Prunus nipponica Matsum. – Takane cherry, peak cherry or Japanese alpine cherry
Prunus pensylvanica L.f. – pin cherry, fire cherry, or wild red cherry
Prunus pseudocerasus Lindl. – Chinese sour cherry or Chinese cherry
Prunus rufa Wall ex Hook.f. – Himalayan cherry
Prunus rufoides C.K.Schneid. – tailed-leaf cherry
Prunus sargentii Rehder – northern Japanese hill cherry, northern Japanese mountain cherry or Sargent's cherry
Prunus serrula Franch. – paperbark cherry, birch bark cherry or Tibetan cherry
Prunus serrulata Lindl. – Japanese cherry, hill cherry, Oriental cherry or East Asian cherry
Prunus speciosa (Koidz.) Ingram – Oshima cherry
Prunus takesimensis Nakai – Ulleungdo cherry
Prunus yedoensis Matsum. – Yoshino cherry or Tokyo cherry
Bush cherries
Main article: Prunus sect. Microcerasus
Prunus tomentosa, Nanking cherry (a bush cherry species)
Bush cherries are characterized by having three winter buds per axil.[2] They used to be included in Prunus subg. Cerasus, but phylogenetic research indicates they should be a section of Prunus subg. Prunus.[1] Examples of bush cherries are:
Prunus cistena Koehne – purple-leaf sand cherry
Prunus humilis Bunge – Chinese plum-cherry or humble bush cherry
Prunus japonica Thunb. – Korean cherry
Prunus prostrata Labill. – mountain cherry, rock cherry, spreading cherry or prostrate cherry
Prunus pumila L. – sand cherry
Prunus tomentosa Thunb. – Nanking cherry, Manchu cherry, downy cherry, Shanghai cherry, Ando cherry, mountain cherry, Chinese dwarf cherry, Chinese bush cherry
Bird cherries, cherry laurels, and other racemose cherries
Main article: Prunus subg. Padus
Prunus ilicifolia, hollyleaf cherry (a cherry laurel species)
Prunus serotina, black cherry (a bird cherry species)
Prunus subg. Padus contains most racemose species that are called cherries which used to be included in the genera Padus (bird cherries), Laurocerasus (cherry laurels), Pygeum (tropical species such as African cherry) and Maddenia.[1] Examples of the racemose cherries are:
Prunus africana (Hook.f.) Kalkman – African cherry
Prunus caroliniana Aiton – Carolina laurel cherry or laurel cherry
Prunus cornuta (Wall. ex Royle) Steud. – Himalayan bird cherry
Prunus grayana Maxim. – Japanese bird cherry or Gray's bird cherry
Prunus ilicifolia (Nutt. ex Hook. & Arn.) Walp. – hollyleaf cherry, evergreen cherry, holly-leaved cherry or islay
Prunus laurocerasus L. – cherry laurel
Prunus lyonii (Eastw.) Sarg. – Catalina Island cherry
Prunus myrtifolia (L.) Urb. – West Indian cherry
Prunus napaulensis (Ser.) Steud. – Nepal bird cherry
Prunus occidentalis Sw. – western cherry laurel
Prunus padus L. – bird cherry or European bird cherry
Prunus pleuradenia Griseb. – Antilles cherry
Prunus serotina Ehrh. – black cherry, wild cherry
Prunus ssiori F.Schmidt – Hokkaido bird cherry
Prunus virginiana L. – chokecherry
Etymology and antiquity
The Cherry Seller, by Sara Troost (18th Century Netherlands)
The English word cherry derives from Old Northern French or Norman cherise from the Latin cerasum,[3] referring to an ancient Greek region, Kerasous (Κερασοῦς) near Giresun, Turkey, from which cherries were first thought to be exported to Europe.[4] The indigenous range of the sweet cherry extends through most of Europe, western Asia, and parts of northern Africa, and the fruit has been consumed throughout its range since prehistoric times. A cultivated cherry is recorded as having been brought to Rome by Lucius Licinius Lucullus from northeastern Anatolia, also known as the Pontus region, in 72 BC.[5]
Cherries were introduced into England at Teynham, near Sittingbourne in Kent, by order of Henry VIII, who had tasted them in Flanders.[6][7][8]
