128 



THE SOUR CHERRY 



is again divided into many varieties, while a 

 third group is grown for the manufacture of 

 a liqueur. The two groups vary more or less 

 in both tree and fruit, but have a constant 

 difference only in a single, very easily distin- 

 guished character the juice in the fruits of one 

 is red, in the other it is colorless. 



Cherries with colorless juice are the Ama- 

 relles, from the Latin amarus, bitter, a name 

 probably first used by the Germans but now 

 in general use wherever cherries are grown. 

 These Amarelles are pale red fruits, more or 

 less flattened at the ends. Despite the deriva- 

 tion of the name Amarelle, they have less 

 bitterness than the other group of varieties of 

 the sour cherry. They are also less acid than 

 the darker colored cherries, and are therefore 

 more suitable for eating out of hand, the dark- 

 colored cherries being almost exclusively culi- 

 nary fruits. The common representatives of 

 this group are Early Richmond, Montmorency, 

 and the various cherries to which the word 

 Amarelle is affixed, as the King Amarelle and 

 the Spate Amarelle. 



The second group, varieties with reddish 

 juice and usually with very dark fruits, which 

 are more spherical or cordate in shape than 

 the Amarelles, comprises the Morellos of sev- 

 eral languages or the Griottes of the French. 

 The first of these terms has reference to the 

 color, the word Morello coming from the 

 Italian, meaning blackish; while Griotte, from 

 the French, probably is derived through 

 agriotte from aigre, meaning sharp, in reference 

 to the acidity of the fruits. Weichsel is the Ger- 

 man group name for these cherries, rather less 

 commonly used than the other two terms. 

 The trees of the Mprello-like varieties are 

 usually smaller, bushier, and more compact 

 than those of the Amarelles. The branches, as 

 a rule, are more horizontal, often drooping, 

 are less regularly arranged and more slender. 

 The leaves, in typical varieties, are of a darker 

 green, smaller, thinner, and pendent; while 

 those of the Amarelles are either horizontal or 

 inclined to be upright; the leaves are also 

 toothed less deeply and more regularly. The 

 typical varieties of this group are English 

 Morello, Ostheim, Olivet, Brusseler Braune, 

 Vladimir, and Riga. 



A third division of the species is the Marasca 

 cherry from which is made maraschino, a dis- 

 tilled liqueur much used in Europe as a drink, 

 and in Europe and America in the manufacture 

 of maraschino cherries. The Marasca cherry 

 is a native of the province of Dalmatia, Aus- 

 tria, where the trees grow wild, and are now 

 sparingly cultivated. Botanists include this 

 cherry in the species under discussion, P. 

 Cerasus marasca. Marasca cherries differ from 

 the other cultivated forms chiefly in the greater 

 vigor of the trees, relatively finer serrations of 

 the leaves, longer stipules, and a more com- 

 pact inflorescence. The fruits are much smaller 

 than in the common sour cherries, are deep 

 red or almost black in color, and have intensely 

 red flesh and juice. The cherries are very 

 acid, with a bitter taste that gives flavor to 

 the maraschino made from them. 



The Sweet Cherry 



2. Prunus avium, Linn. Tree reaching a height of 

 30-40 feet, upright-spreading, open-topped, usually with 

 a central leader ; branches stocky, smooth, dull ash-gray ; 

 branchlets thick, long, grayish-brown, smooth, with 

 small lenticels. Leaves resinous at opening, more or 

 less drooping, 4-6 inches long, 2-3 inches wide, oblong- 

 ovate, thin ; upper surface dark green, rugose ; lower 

 surface dull green, pubescent ; apex acute ; base abrupt ; 

 margin coarsely and doubly serrate, glandular ; petiole 

 1% inches long, slender, dull red, with 1-3 small, 

 globose, reddish glands on the stalk. Flowers with or 

 after the leaves ; white, 1 ^4 inches across ; in clusters 

 of 2 or 3 ; pedicels 1 inch long, slender, glabrous. 

 Fruit early ; 1 inch in diameter, cordate ; cavity deep, 

 wide, abrupt ; suture a line ; apex round or pointed ; 

 yellow, red or purplish-black ; dots numerous, small, 

 russet ; stem 1 % inches long, adherent to the fruit ; 

 skin tough, adherent to the pulp ; flesh yellow, red, or 

 dark purple with colorless or colored juice, sweet ; stone- 

 semi-clinging, % inch long, elliptical, flattened, blunt, 

 with smooth surfaces. 



Through its cultivated varieties, P. avium is 

 everywhere known in temperate climates as the 

 sweet cherry. Wild forms are variously called 

 Mazzard, Bird, Wild, Crab, and Gean cher- 

 ries. It is not so hardy a species as P. Cerasus 

 and is, therefore, less generally grown, but still 

 is a favorite orchard, dooryard, and roadside 

 plant in all mid-temperate regions. It refuses 

 to grow, however, in the warmest and coldest 

 parts of the temperate zones. Wherever the 

 species thrives as an orchard plant, it is to 

 be found growing spontaneously along fences 

 and roadsides and in open woods, from seeds 

 distributed by birds. The fruits of these wild 

 sweet cherries are usually small, and the flesh 

 is thin and dry, often unpalatable; but, on 

 the other hand, trees are sometimes found as 

 escapes from cultivation which rival in their 

 products the orchard-grown cherries. The 

 number of cultivated varieties of P. avium is 

 about 600. 



The habitat of the species is in southern and 

 central Europe and Asia Minor, where it is to 

 be found in moderately dry soils and seldom in 

 the shade, preferring always warm, sunny sites, 

 such as gravelly or stony hillsides; these 

 predilections cling to the species in its culti- 

 vated varieties. P. avium differs from P. 

 Cerasus in an important horticultural character 

 as the two species grow spontaneously; the 

 former suckers from the root little or not at all, 

 and hence is a suitable plant for a stock in 

 orchard work ; while the latter suckers so much 

 as to make it unfit for use as a stock. 



The sweet cherry is variously divided by 

 botanists and pomologists; but whatever dis- 

 tinct forms of the species may exist in the 

 wild state, they are now interminably confused 

 by hybridization under cultivation. It is im- 

 possible to group pomological varieties into 

 botanical varieties, as many botanists have 

 attempted to do. The species can be roughly 

 divided into two pomological groups, the dis- 

 tinguishing character being the texture of the 

 flesh. 



Sweet cherries with soft tender flesh form 

 one group, known by pomologists under the 

 French group-name Guigne or the English 

 Gean. These are also the Heart cherries of 

 common parlance. These soft-fruited cherries 

 may again be divided into dark-colored varie- 



