| Prunus maximowiczii | |
|---|---|
| Prunus maximowiczii, Morton Arboretum, Lisle, Illinois | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Rosales |
| Family: | Rosaceae |
| Genus: | Prunus |
| Subgenus: | Cerasus |
| Species: | P. maximowiczii |
| Binomial name | |
| Prunus maximowiczii Rupr.[1] |
|
| Synonyms | |
Prunus maximowiczii, known as the Miyama cherry or Korean cherry (not to be confused with P. japonica, also called Korean cherry), is a small (about 7.5 m), fruiting cherry tree that can be found growing wild in northeastern Asia and Eurasia.
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The species was first described in 1857 by Franz Josef Ruprecht. It was treated in the genus Cerasus (now generally accepted as a subgenus of Prunus) by Vladimir Leontyevich Komarov in 1927, but the original P. maximowiczii remains the widely accepted binomial.[1][2]
P. maximowiczii has white, insect-pollinated, hermaphroditic flowers, blooming in May. The edible fruits (cherries) are about 5 mm in diameter, containing one large seed each. They ripen in August.[3]
Korea, China (Heilong Jiang, Jilin, Liaoning, and Zhejiang), Russia (Khabarovsk, Primorye, and Sakhalin), and Japan (Hokkaido, Honshu, and Kyushu),[1] often in mountainous, woodland regions and in clayey soil.
P. maximowiczii is useful in many ways; aside from eating the fruit, the flowers can be used as a condiment, preserved in brine.[3]
The wood of P. maximowiczii is very hard, heavy, and close grained, making it excellent for carving and the making of furniture.[3]
Dyes produced from the leaves of P. maximowiczii are green; and those from the fruit, a dark grey to green.[3]
Chemically, amygdalin and prunasin, the derivatives of which produce prussic acid[3] as well as Genistein[4] can be extracted from P. maximowiczii.