2 THE CHERRIES OF NEW YORK 



Though placed by most botanists in the same genus, each of the stone- 

 fruits constitutes a natural group so distinct that neither botanist nor fruit- 

 grower could possibly take one for another as the trees and fruits of the dif- 

 ferent groups are called to mind. But there are outstanding forms which 

 seem to establish connections between the many species and the several 

 groups of fruits and through these outliers the characters are so confounded 

 in attempting to separate species that it becomes quickly apparent that there 

 are few distinct lines of cleavage within the genus. For several centviries 

 systematists have disputed as to whether the stone-fruits fall most naturally 

 into one, two, or three genera — indeed have not been able to agree as to 

 whether some species are plums or cherries, or others apricots or plums. 

 Hybridization between the cultivated divisions of the genus — unques- 

 tionably it has taken place in nature as well — has added to the perplexities 

 of classification. Accepting, then, for the present at least, the very artificial 

 classification which, rather paradoxically, places in one genus a number of 

 fruits commonly thought of as quite distinct, let us briefly note the charac- 

 ters which best distinguish cherries from their congeners. 



The cherry is nearest of kin to the plum. These two are roughly 

 separated from the other cultivated members of the genus to which they 

 belong by bearing their fruits on stems in fascicles while the others are 

 practically stemless and are solitary or borne in pairs. The fruits of plums 

 and cherries are globular or oblong, succulent and smooth or nearly so. 

 Peaches, apricots, nectarines and almonds are more silicate than plums and 

 cherries and the almond has a drier flesh, splitting at maturity to liberate 

 the stone; and, with the exception of nectarines and a few varieties of 

 apricots, all are very pubescent. The stones of cherries and plums are 

 smooth, or nearly so, while those of the other fruits are sculptured and 

 pitted, though those of the apricot are often somewhat plum-like. 



Cherries are separated from plums by their smaller size and distinctive 

 color of skin, juice and flesh; by the texture and distinct flavor of the flesh; 

 by growth in corymbose rather than umbelliferous fascicles; by the more 

 globular stone; and by the arrangement of the leaves in the bud. Leaves 

 of the plum are usually convolute, or rolled up, in the bud, while those of 

 the cherry are conduplicate, or folded lengthwise along the midrib. 



We have been discussing the cherries of common cultivation — the 

 Sweet Cherry and Sour Cherry of the orchards, the fascicled cherries to 

 which the botanists give the group name, Cerasus. But there is another 

 group, the Padus cherries, well worthy of brief mention. The most note- 



