Cherry
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.
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 BCE.
[6] Cherries were introduced into England at Teynham, near Sittingbourne in Kent, by order of Henry VIII, who had tasted them in Flanders.
Irrigation, spraying, labor, and their propensity to damage from rain and hail make cherries relatively expensive.
[12] In Europe, the first visible pest in the growing season soon after blossom (in April in western Europe) usually is the black cherry aphid ("cherry blackfly," Myzus cerasi), which causes leaves at the tips of branches to curl, with the blackfly colonies exuding a sticky secretion which promotes fungal growth on the leaves and fruit.
[12] The following cultivars have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit: See cherry blossom and Prunus for ornamental trees.
World production of sour cherries in 2020 was 1.48 million tonnes, led by Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and Serbia.
Major commercial cherry orchards in West Asia are in Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, and Azerbaijan.
Major commercial cherry orchards in Europe are in Turkey, Italy, Spain and other Mediterranean regions, and to a smaller extent in the Baltic States and southern Scandinavia.
[42] In the United States, most sweet cherries are grown in Washington, California, Oregon, Wisconsin, and Michigan.
[43] Important sweet cherry cultivars include Bing, Ulster, Rainier, Brooks, Tulare, King, and Sweetheart.
[46] These varieties extend the range of cultivation of cherries to the mild winter areas of southern US.
Key production areas include Young, Orange and Bathurst in New South Wales, Wandin, the Goulburn and Murray valley areas in Victoria, the Adelaide Hills region in South Australia, and the Huon and Derwent Valleys in Tasmania.
The Australian Cherry Breeding program is developing a series of new varieties which are under testing evaluation.
As raw fruit, sweet cherries provide little nutrient content per 100 g serving, as only dietary fiber and vitamin C are present in moderate content, while other vitamins and dietary minerals each supply less than 10% of the Daily Value (DV) per serving, respectively (table).
[55] Cherry wood is valued for its rich color and straight grain in manufacturing fine furniture, particularly desks, tables and chairs.
