THE CHEERY. 



DEFINITIONS. 



Standard Dictionary : (1) A tree or shrub of the genus Prunus 

 (which also includes the plum), bearing a fleshy drupe with a bony 

 stone, {a) The common garden cherry {P. cerasus), of which sev- 

 eral hundred varieties are cultivated for the fruit, some of which are, 

 the Bigarreau, Blackheart, Black Tartarian, Oxheart, Morelle or Mor- 

 ello, May Duke (corrupted from Medoc, of France), {h) The wild 

 cherry : as, P. serotina (wild black cherry), valued for its timber. P. 

 mrglniaiia (choke cherry), an American shrub which bears astringent 

 fruit. P. aviutn and P. padus, European tree (bird cherry). 



Century Dictionary : (1) The fruit of a species of Cerasus (which 

 is commonly regarded as a subgenus of Prunus), consisting of a glo- 

 bose pulpy drupe enclosing a one-seeded, smooth stone. The culti- 

 vated varieties of the garden cherry probably all belong to two species, 

 P. cerasus and P. avium, both doubtless natives of Europe. It is 

 related by Pliny that this fruit or a cultivated variety of it was brought 

 from Cerasus in Pontus to Italy after the defeat of Mithridates by 

 Lucellus, about 70 B. C. It was introduced into England by the 

 Romans about 120 years afterward. There are many kinds, as the 

 red, black and white hearted, the May Duke, Bigarreau, Morello, 

 Kentish, etc. The wild or crab cherry, Mazzard or Gean of Great Brit- 

 ain, in a wild state of the P. avium, which is also found in various 

 other parts of Europe. From the fruit of its different varieties several 

 highly esteemed cordials are prepared, as the Maraschino of Italy, the 

 Ratafia of France, the Kirschwasser of Germany, etc. To this group 

 of cherries, distinguished by having their flowers and fruits in clus- 

 ters, belong also the Mahaleb cherry {P. mahaleh) of Eurojje, with 

 very fragrant flowers, and the ground-cherry {P. pennsylvanica) , and 

 the dwarf cherry {P. pumila), of North America. A second section 

 of the genus has the flower in racemes, and the fruit smaller and less, 

 palatable. To this belong the bird-cherry {P. padus) of Europe, and 

 the wild black cherry, also called the rum or cabinet cherry {P. sero- 

 tina), and the choke-cherry (P. virginiana) of America. Still a third 

 section consists of evergreen trees, with the flowers in racemes and the. 



