4 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 401 



Since the plant characters as well as the fruit characters of sweet cherries differ 

 materially from those of the sour and duke varieties, these groups will be consid- 

 ered separate!)'. 



PART L SWEET CHERRIES 



TREE CHARACTERS 



Habit of growth of a two-3'ear tree depends upon the direction and length of 

 the individual shoots. In form a variety may be upright as Black Tartarian, 

 upright-spreading as Napoleon, spreading as Windsor, or even have drooping 

 branches as Lyons^ (Figure 1). Some varieties as Black Tartarian have few 

 branches while others have more. Most sweet cherry varieties are tall, Seneca, 

 Genesee, and Black Tartarian being among the tallest, while Schmidt and Yellow 

 Spanish are usually the shortest. Buds on sweet cherries seem to be of relatively 

 little value for identification purposes until after the season's growth is quite 

 mature. Then the> vary in size and shape: on Lambert they tend to be small and 

 blunt (not shprp pointed); on Bing, small and pointed; on Rockport, rather large 

 and blunt; while on Ida they are large and pointed. 



Mature bark color may be of considerable value in comparing varieties grown 

 on the same soil. Two-year trunk bark color varies from light yellowish brown 

 on Napoleon and Bing through medium bright brown on Genesee and medium 

 dull brown on Elkhorn and Emperor Francis, to dark brown on Lambert and 

 dark reddish brown on Gov. Wood. Usually the bark color on the one-year 

 shoot is similar to that of the two-year trunk. The shoot bark is characterized 

 also by the amount and type of scarf-skin present. A good contrast in this charac- 

 ter Is found between Bing, with a rather smooth bark, and Republican or Schmidt, 

 with rather large areas of medium to heavy scarf-skin (Figure 2). 



Lenticel size, number, and position are of considerable value in identifying vari- 

 eties. While both Bing and Republican have few lenticels, those on the former 

 are small while those on the latter are rather large. The lenticels on Lyons are 

 rather numerous and small, while on Schmidt they are numerous and rather 

 large. Some varieties such as Seneca and False Tartarian have mixed small 

 and large, elongated lenticels. On well-matured shoots the elevation of the len- 

 ticels is useful: on Schmidt and Emperor Francis they are distinctly raised and 

 can be easily felt; while on Bing and Napoleon they are practically flush with the 

 surface of the bark and hence less evident to the touch (Figure 2). 



LEAF CHARACTERS 



When observing leaf characters, attention should be centered, for the most 

 part, on the fully developed leaves on the upper half of the growing shoot, as 

 these are generally the most typical leaves for the variety. On one-year whips 

 the leaves are usually larger than on two-year trees, and some characters will be 

 emphasized while others may be less distinctive than on the two-year tree. 



The Blade 



Size of the blade is influenced materially by the vigor of growth of the tree, 

 yet under equal growing conditions Giant will have about the largest leaves of 

 any variety, while Seneca will have the smallest. In observing sliape, a broad but 

 strongly folded leaf may be mistaken for a narrow leaf unless care is taken to 

 flatten out the edges. The base of the blade may be cordate as in Windsor, full 



2The leaf position in this cut is abnormal due to a slight wilting of the trees before the picture 

 was taken. 



