Cherries

Prunus species

Description: Trees generally up to 10m but reaching 30m in some species. Bark brown, often with distinctive horizontal bands of pores and peeling in strips to reveal shiny reddish or purplish-brown colour beneath. Leaves alternate, lance-shaped, oval or widest above the middle and pointed, margins toothed. Flowers in clusters, white or various shades of pink, often double, appearing before or with the leaves. Style 1. Ripe fruit less than 2cm long, with a smooth apex, yellow, red or black and either sweet or sour, containing a single seed (stone).

Comments: The name cherry covers a range of different trees. True cherries include the familiar sweet dessert cherries, the sour cooking cherries or morellos, and the ornamental flowering cherries. Other species with inedible fruits include bird cherries.