Wild Cherry
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This page is about the tree. For the band of the same name, see Wild Cherry (band).
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 Wild Cherry foliage and fruit
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| Prunus avium L. |
The Wild Cherry (Prunus avium) is a species of Cherry, native to Europe and western Asia (also known as the Sweet Cherry). It is a species in the subgenus Cerasus with flowers in corymbs, and is a deciduous tree growing to 15-32 m tall. It is the species from which most sweet cherry cultivars are derived. In addition, Prunus serotina is also called Wild Cherry.
The leaves are simple, 7-14 cm long, with a serrated margin. The fruit are 1-2 cm in diameter, variably sweet to somewhat astringent and bitter to eat fresh; they are also readily eaten by birds.
It is also sometimes known as Gean or Mazzard, both obsolete names little used as common names in modern English, though more recently, 'Mazzard' also refers to a selected self fertile cultivar that comes true from seed, which is used as a seedling rootstock for fruiting cultivars.
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 Foliage and fruit |
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