Cherry

The word cherry refers to a fleshy fruit (drupe) that contains a single stony seed. The cherry belongs to the family Rosaceae, genus Prunus, along with almonds, peaches, plums, apricots and bird cherries. more...

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The subgenus, Cerasus, is distinguished by having the flowers in small corymbs of several together (not singly, nor in racemes), and by having a smooth fruit with 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 America, three in Europe, and the remainder in Asia. The word "cherry" comes from the French word "cerise," which comes in turn from the Latin words cerasum and Cerasus.

Background

The cherry is generally understood to have been brought to Rome from Persia.

The Wild Cherry (P. avium) has given rise to the Sweet Cherry to which most cherry cultivars belong, and the Sour Cherry (P. cerasus) is used mainly for cooking. 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. Given the high costs of production, from irrigation, sprays and labour costs, in addition to their proneness to damage from rain and hail, the cherry is relatively expensive. Nonetheless, there is high demand for the fruit.

Major commercial cherry orchards in Europe extend from the Iberian peninsula east to Asia Minor; they are also grown to a smaller extent north of the British Isles and southern Scandinavia. In the United States, most sweet cherries for fresh use are grown in California and Washington. Important sweet cherry cultivars include 'Bing', 'Brooks', 'Tulare', 'King', and 'Rainier'. Oregon and Michigan provide light-coloured 'Royal Ann' ('Napoleon'; alternately 'Queen Anne') cherries for the maraschino cherry process. Most sour (also called tart) cherries are grown in four states bordering the Great Lakes, in Michigan (the largest producers of cherries among the states), New York, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, however, native and non-native cherries grow well in Canada (Ontario and British Columbia) 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. The specific region of Northern Michigan that is known the world over for tart cherry production is referred to as the "Traverse Bay" region. Farms in this region grown many varieties of cherries and companies like Traverse Bay Farms sell the fruit of the region. Likewise in Australia the New South Wales town of Young is famous nationwide as the "Cherry Capital of Australia", and also host The National Cherry Festival which is famous internationally. Popular varieties include the 'Montmorency', 'Morello', 'North Star', 'Early Richmond', 'Titans' and 'Lamberts'.

Read more at Wikipedia.org