cherries

A cherry (originally "cherise" reinterpreted as a plural, from the Old French word, in turn from Latin cerasum and Cerasus - i.e., the Classical name of the modern city of Giresun in Turkey) is both a tree and its fleshy fruit, a type known as a drupe with a single hard stone enclosing the seed. The cherry belongs to the family Rosaceae, genus Prunus (along with almonds, peaches, plums, apricots and bird cherries). The cherries belong in subgenus Cerasus, distinguished from the rest of the genus by having the flowers in small corymbs of several together (not singly, nor in racemes), and in the fruit being smooth and having only a weak groove or none along one side. The subgenus is native to the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with two species in North America, three in Europe, and the remainder in Asia.

Cultivation and uses

The cherries selected for eating are derived primarily from two species, the Wild Cherry (P. avium), which has given rise to the Sweet Cherry to which most cherry cultivars belong, and the Sour Cherry or Morello Cherry (P. cerasus), used mainly for cooking and jam making. Both species originate in Europe and western Asia; they do not cross-pollinate each other. The other species, although having edible fruit, are not grown extensively for consumption, except in northern regions where the two main species will not grow.

Major commercial cherry orchards in Europe extend from the Iberian peninsula east to Asia Minor; they are also grown to a smaller extent north to the British Isles and southern Scandinavia. In the United States, most sweet cherries are grown in the west. California and Washington supply mainly sweet cherries intended for fresh use. Major sweet cherry cultivars include the 'Bing', 'Brooks', 'Kristin', 'Tulare', 'King', and 'Rainier'. Oregon and Michigan provide light-coloured 'Royal Ann' ('Napoleon'; alternately 'Queen Anne') cherries for the maraschino cherry process. Most sour cherries are grown in four states bordering the Great Lakes, in Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin; however, native and non-native cherries grow well in Canada as well. Sour cherries include Nanking and Evans Cherry. Traverse City, Michigan claims to be the "Cherry capital of the World", hosting a National Cherry Festival and making the world's largest cherry pie. Popular sour varieties include the 'Montmorency', 'Morello', 'North Star', and 'Early Richmond'.

Cherries have a very short fruiting season. In Australia they are usually at their peak around Christmas time, in southern Europe in June, in America in June, and in the UK in mid July. Annual world production (as of 2003) of domesticated cherries is about 3 million tonnes, of which a third are sour cherries. In many parts of North America they are among the first tree fruits ripe; hence the colloquial term "cherry" to mean "new" or "the first", e.g. "in cherry condition".

As well as the fruit, cherries also have attractive flowers, and they are commonly planted for their flower display in spring; several of the Asian cherries are particularly noted for their flower display. The Japanese sakura in particular are a national symbol celebrated in the yearly Hanami festival. Many flowering cherry cultivars (known as 'ornamental cherries') have the stamens and pistils replaced by additional petals ("double" flowers), so are sterile and do not bear fruit. They are grown purely for their flowers and decorative value. The most common of these sterile cherries is the cultivar 'Kanzan'.

Cherry flowers are sometimes eaten by the larva of the Green Pug moth and the leaves by the larva of other Lepidoptera including Coxcomb Prominent and Yellow-tail.

Cherries have been shown to have several health benefits. Cherries contain anthocyanins, which is the red pigment in berries. Cherry anthocyanins have been shown to reduce pain and inflammation^[1]. Anthocyanins are also potent antioxidants. Cherries have also been shown to contain high levels of melatonin^[2]. Research has shown that people who have heart attacks have low melatonin levels ^[3]. Besides being an anti-oxidant, melatonin has also been shown to be important for the function of the immune system. Research also indicates that melatonin suppresses COX-2.

In literature

The cherry tree has been memorialised in literature by A.E. Housman's poem The Cherry Tree. Symbolically Hausman's ashes are buried on the grounds of St Laurence Church, Ludlow, England beneath the stump of a cherry tree.

References

1. ^ Behav. Brain Res. 153(1): 181-188, 12 Aug 2004
2. ^ Burkhardt et al., (2002). Detection and Quantification of the Antioxidant Melatonin in Montmorency and Balaton Tart Cherries (Prunus cerasus) J. Agric. Food Chem. 49(10): 4898-4902
3. ^ Endocrine 38(3): 145-52, 2005

See also

• Acerola
• Fruit tree forms
• Fruit tree propagation
• Fruit trees
• Marasca cherry
• Pruning fruit trees
• Sakura
• Cherry stoner