Cherry

The Russian word “cherry” is considered to be Slavic derivative of the same basis as German. Weichsel "cherry", lat. viscum “bird glue”, etc. In this case, the initial meaning of the word is “wood with sticky juice” ^[2] .

The small city of Kerasunda ( Greek Κερασουντα ) ^[3] , located between Farnakia and Trebizond , became famous for cherries. It was there that the Romans first met them, giving the name "Kerasunt fruits," lat. cerasi . Hence ital. ciliegia , fr. cerise , sp. cereza , port. cereja , it. Kirsche cherry , rus. sweet cherry ^[4] .

The subgenus Cerasus differs from other subgenuses of the genus Prunus ( Armeniaca - apricot , Prunus - plum and Emplectocladus ) in the following characteristics:

• fruit ( drupes ) smooth, without plaque
• folded leaves along folded
• the flowers are arranged with umbrellas , enclosing several flowers.
• Cherry blossoms develop simultaneously with leaves or earlier

Flowers usually have five petals, but six are often found.

The subgenus is divided into two sections - Cerasus and Laurocerasus , which include more than 60 species ^[5] .

Some Views

sect. Cerasus ^[6]

• Prunus avium L. - Cherry , or bird cherry . A tree without root shoots; the leaves below are slightly fluffy; petioles of leaves at the base of the plate are provided with two glands.
• Prunus campanulata Maxim. - Cherry is bell-shaped . The tree with the most red flowers of all wild species.
• Prunus cerasus L. - Common Cherry , or Sour Cherry . A tree sprouting from the roots ; leaves completely bare; petioles of leaves without glands.
• Prunus cerasoides Buch.-Ham. ex D.Don , 1825 - Cherry-shaped cherries
• Prunus emarginata ( Douglas ) Eaton - Bitter Cherry
• Prunus fruticosa Pall. - Shrub cherry , or steppe cherry [ syn. Prunus chamaecerasus Jacq. ]. Low shrub ; found wildly in southern and central Russia .
• Prunus maximowiczii Rupr. - Cherry Maximovich . A small Far Eastern tree with inedible fruits.
• Prunus serrulata Lindl. - Small-cherries . Decorative tree - sakura , a symbol of Japanese culture .

sect. Laurocerasus ^[7]

• Prunus laurocerasus L. - Lavrovishnya
• Prunus padus L. - Common bird cherry , or common bird cherry , or bird cherry
• Prunus virginiana L. - Virginian cherry , or red cherry

Of the 150 known species in the world, five species took part in the creation of modern varieties and rootstocks of cherries: ordinary cherry, steppe, felt, Magaleb and cherry ^[8] .

Honey bees take abundant (especially in the morning) nectar and pollen from flowers of different types of cherries. During cherry blossoms, an approximately equal number of bees collect both nectar and pollen ^[9] .

Production

The most famous type of cherry for a long time is cherry , or bird cherry . It is believed that cherries were already known for 8000 years BC. e. in Anatolia and Europe - on the territory of modern Denmark and Switzerland (residents of pile constructions ) ^[10] .

It is claimed that the Assyrian king Sargon II (722–705 BC) loved the sweet aroma of cherry blossoms. According to Herodotus , who lived in the V century BC. e., cherry trees for the winter wrapped in thick felt . Thick syrup was prepared from their fruits, which they drank, diluted with water, or used to improve the taste of cookies ^[10] .

There is reason to believe that the commander and slave owner Lucullus brought the first cherries from Asia Minor to Rome after a campaign against Mithridates (74 BC) ^[10] .

The fruits of cherry have a sweet and sour taste. Cherry fruits contain organic acids ( citric acid , malic acid , succinic acid , salicylic acid ), trace elements ( copper , iron , zinc , iodine , manganese , chromium , fluorine , molybdenum , boron , vanadium , cobalt , nickel , rubidium ), macrocells ( potassium , calcium , phosphorus , magnesium ), as well as pectin , sugars, vitamins A, C, E, B1, B2, PP, folic acid .

• Since 2013, in July in the city of Glubokoe (Belarus, Vitebsk region), the "Cherry Festival ^[11] " has been held. On July 21, 2013, a cherry monument was erected. The author of the composition is the sculptor from Vitebsk Ivan Kazak. Many signs are already associated with the monument, mainly all of them are related to personal life. In April 2013, a cherry garden of 1414 cherries was laid (the year the city was founded). Near the garden appeared a new street Vishnevaya ^[12] .

• Cherries are widely represented in German ( kirschwasser , strudel ) and Ukrainian national cuisines ( dumplings with cherries). Compotes, jams, liquors, liqueurs (in particular, the Portuguese ginja ) are prepared from cherries.
• In 1903, Anton Chekhov wrote the play Cherry Orchard . The “main, central hero” of the work is the image of the cherry orchard ^[13] - a symbol of noble Russia. In the play, the garden is cut down, and in life the Russian "noble nests" fall apart. This is Chekhov's prediction of subsequent dramatic events in Russia ^[14] .
• Cherry and Countess Cherries are the characters in the novel The Adventures of Cipollino and its adaptations.

• Until the leaf of cherries falls, no matter how much snow falls, a thaw will drive it away. Popular sign ^[15] .
• Barbados cherry is taxonomically quite far from ordinary cherry: this plant belongs not only to another family , but even to a different order.

• Cherry // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1892. - T. VIa.
• Anzin B.N. Cherry and plum . - M .: Moscow Worker , 1955 .-- 144 p.
• Cherry // Great Soviet Encyclopedia : [in 30 vol.] / Ch. ed. A.M. Prokhorov . - 3rd ed. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969-1978.
• Cherry / Kulenkamp A. Yu. // Big Russian Encyclopedia [Electronic resource]. - 2019.

• Prunus subg. Cerasus : Tropicos taxon information.
• Description of Cherries
• Cherry in the Encyclopedia of Ornamental Garden Plants
• Sychev A. New diseases of cherry - the main reason for its disappearance from our gardens (neopr.) . Garden Information Center. Date of appeal October 16, 2013.