The cherry (originally "cherise" reinterpreted as a plural form, from either a Old French word, in turn from either Latin cerasum) is each the tree and its fleshy fruit, the nature and severity called a drupe with a single arduous stone enclosing a seed. A cherry belongs to the personal Rosaceae, genus Prunus (along with almonds, peaches, plums, apricots and bird cherries). A cherries belong around subgenus Cerasus, distinguished from either a rest of a genus by getting the flowers in microscopic corymbs of several together (non singly, nor inside racemes), & in the fruit existence smooth and non getting the groove along a single side. A subgenus is indigene to the moderate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with deuce metal money inside North America, three inside Europe, and a remainder inside Asia.

Cultivation and uses
A cherries selected for eating come from either only ii coinage, a Wild Cherry (P. avium), which has bring about to the Sweet reddish to which virtually all cherry cultivars belong, and a Morello Cherry or Sour Cherry (P. cerasus), utilized in the main for preparation & jam making. Each mintage originate within Europe and western Asia. A more metal money, although with edible fruit, are not grown extensively for consumption.

Major commercial carmine plantation within Europe extend from either a Iberian peninsula east to Asia Minor; they are too grown to the little extent in the north to the British Isles and southern Scandinavia. In the United States, most sweet cherries come grown in the west. California and Washington supply mainly sweet cherries designed for recently utilise. Major sweet cherry cultivars include a 'Bing', 'Brooks', 'Tulare', 'King', & 'Rainier'. Oregon and Michigan provide light-coloured 'Royal Ann' ('Napoleon') cherries for the maraschino cherry process. Virtually all sour cherries come grown around quaternity states bordering a Great Lakes, in Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

Cherries have a super short fruiting year. Inside Australia, it is unremarkably at their peak witharound the area of Christmas period, within southern Europe in June, & in the UK in mid July. Annual globe production (when of 200Three) of cherries is astir 3 million tonnes, of which a third come sour cherries.

Too when a fruit, cherries besides develop attractive flowers, and it is ordinarily planted for their flower display inside spring; many of the Asian cherries come particularly noted for their flower display. Several flowering cherry cultivars (called 'decorative cherries') own a stamens replaced by additional petals ("double" flowers), so come unfertile & don't bear fruit. It is grown strictly for their flowers & ornamental value. A Japanese sakura in particular are the national symbol celebrated in the each year Hanami festival.

Cherry flowers come another time eaten per larva of the Green Pug moth and the leaves per larva of more Lepidoptera including Coxcomb Prominent and Yellow-tail.