The cherry is a fruit tree of of the prune or plum tribe, the family Rosaceae. Cherry is very ornamental and therefore much cultivated in shrubberies. It is a native of most temperate countries of the northern hemisphere, and in Britain is quite common in the wild state, besides being cultivated for its fruit.
The cultivated varieties probably belong to two species, Cerasus avium and Cerasus vulgaris, the genusCerasus being considered a sub-genus of Prunus. They are numerous, as the red or garden cherry, the red heart, the white heart, the black cherry, etc. The fruit of the wild cherry, or gean, is often as well flavoured, if not quite so large, as that of the cultivated varieties. It is said that this fruit was brought from Cerasus, in Pontus, to Italy, by Lucullus, about 70 BC, and introduced into England by the Romans about 46 AD.
The cherry is used in making the liqueurs Kirschwasser and Maraschino. The wood of the cherry-tree is hard and tough, and is very serviceable to turners and cabinet-makers. An ornamental but not edible species is the bird-cherry. The American wild cherry (Cerasus virginiana) is a fine large tree, the timber of which is much used by cabinet-makers and others, though the fruit is rather astringent. Research Cherry
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Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Nature
Research Cherry
