The plants around us. Volum II The plant around us. Volum II | Page 58

PROPERTIES
It is a deciduous tree growing to 15–32
m (49–105 ft) tall, with a trunk up to
1.5 m (4.9 ft) in diameter. Young trees
show strong apical dominance with a
straight trunk and symmetrical conical
crown, becoming rounded to irregular
on old trees.
English: sweet
cherry
Spanish: cereza
Estonian: kirss
Portuguesse: cereja
Albanian: qershi
Turkish: kiraz
Catalan: cicera
FRUIT
The fruit is a drupe 1–2 cm in
diameter (larger in some
cultivated selections), bright
red to dark purple when
mature in midsummer, edible,
variably sweet to somewhat
astringent and bitter to eat
fresh. Each fruit contains a
single hard-shelled stone 8–12
mm long, 7–10 mm wide and 6–
8 mm thick, grooved along the
flattest edge; the seed
(kernel) inside the stone is 6–8
mm long
Leaves
The leaves are simple ovoid-
acute, 7–14 cm long and 4–7 cm
broad, glabrous matt or sub-
shiny green above, variably
finely downy beneath, with a
serrated margin and an
acuminate tip, with a green or
reddish petiole 2–3.5 cm long
bearing two to five small red
glands. The tip of each
serrated edge of the leaves
also bear small red glands. In
autumn, the leaves turn
orange, pink or red before
falling
FLOWERS
The flowers are produced in early
spring at the same time as the new
leaves, borne in corymbs of two to
six together, each flower pendent
on a 2–5 cm peduncle, 2.5–3.5 cm in
diameter, with five pure white
petals, yellowish stamens, and a
superior ovary. The ovary contains
two ovules, only one of which
becomes the seed.