Prunus subg. Cerasus


Prunus subg. Cerasus is a subgenus of Prunus, commonly known as the true cherries. Species of the subgenus have a single winter bud per axil. The flowers are usually in small corymbs or umbels of several together, but some species have short racemes. The fruit is a drupe and has no obvious groove along the side. The subgenus is native to the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with two species in North America, four in Europe, two in North Africa, and the remainder in Asia.
The fresh fruits of sweet cherry and Chinese cherry are consumed raw. The fruits of some species such as sour cherry are used to make desserts, sauce, jam and wine. The seeds of mahaleb cherry are used to make mahleb. Many species are cultivated as an ornamental tree, known as cherry blossoms.

Species

Species of Prunus subg. Cerasus are known as true cherries, which include:Prunus apetala Franch. & Sav. – clove cherryPrunus avium L. – sweet cherry, wild cherry, mazzard or geanPrunus campanulata Maxim. – bell-flowered cherry, Taiwan cherry or Formosan cherryPrunus canescens Bois. – grey-leaf cherryPrunus caudata Franch. – caudate cherryPrunus cerasoides D. Don. – wild Himalayan cherryPrunus cerasus L. – sour cherryPrunus clarofolia C.K.Schneid. – shiny-leaf cherryPrunus conadenia KoehnePrunus conradinae KoehnePrunus crataegifolia Hand.-Mazz. – hawthorn-leaf cherryPrunus cyclamina Koehne – cyclamen cherry or Chinese flowering cherryPrunus discadenia KoehnePrunus discoidea Z.Wei & Y.B.ChangPrunus dolichadenia CardotPrunus emarginata Walp. – bitter cherry or Oregon cherryPrunus fruticosa Pall. – European dwarf cherry, dwarf cherry, Mongolian cherry or steppe cherryPrunus hainanensis H.Yu, N.H.Xia & H.G.Ye – Hainan cherryPrunus harae H.Ohba & S.AkiyamaPrunus hefengensis Y.H.Tong & N.H.Xia – Hefeng cherryPrunus henryi KoehnePrunus himalaica Kitam. – Nepalese cherryPrunus incisa Thunb. – Fuji cherryPrunus itosakura SieboldPrunus jamasakura Siebold ex Koidz. – Japanese mountain cherry or Japanese hill cherryPrunus leveilleana Koehne – Korean mountain cherryPrunus maackii Rupr. – Manchurian cherryPrunus mahaleb L. – Saint Lucie cherry, rock cherry, perfumed cherry or mahaleb cherryPrunus matuurai Sasaki – Taiping Mountain cherryPrunus maximowiczii Rupr. – Miyama cherry or Korean cherryPrunus mugus Hand.-Mazz.Prunus nipponica Matsum. – Takane cherry, peak cherry or Japanese alpine cherryPrunus pananensis Z.L.Chen, W.J.Chen & X.F.Jin – Pan'an cherryPrunus patentipila Hand.-Mazz.Prunus pensylvanica L.f. – pin cherry, fire cherry, or wild red cherryPrunus pleiocerasus KoehnePrunus polytricha KoehnePrunus pseudocerasus Lindl. – Chinese cherry or Chinese sour cherryPrunus pusilliflora CardotPrunus rufa Wall ex Hook.f. – Himalayan cherryPrunus rufoides C.K.Schneid. – tailed-leaf cherryPrunus sargentii Rehder – northern Japanese hill cherry, northern Japanese mountain cherry or Sargent's cherryPrunus schneideriana KoehnePrunus serrula Franch. – paperbark cherry, birch bark cherry or Tibetan cherryPrunus serrulata Lindl. – Japanese cherry, hill cherry, Oriental cherry or East Asian cherryPrunus shikokuensis H.Kubota – Shikoku cherryPrunus singalilaensis H.Ohba & S.Akiyama – Singalila cherryPrunus speciosa Ingram – Oshima cherryPrunus stipulacea Maxim.Prunus sunhangii D.G.Zhang & T.DengPrunus szechuanica Batalin – Sichuan cherryPrunus takasagomontana SasakiPrunus takesimensis Nakai – Ulleungdo cherryPrunus taplejungnica H.Ohba & S.Akiyama – Taplejung cherryPrunus tatsienensis Batalin – Kangding cherryPrunus topkegolensis H.Ohba & S.Akiyama – Topke Gola cherryPrunus transarisanensis Hayata – Alishan cherryPrunus trichantha KoehnePrunus trichostoma KoehnePrunus veitchii Koehne Prunus xingshanensis Huan C.Wang – Xingshan cherryPrunus yaoiana Y.H.Tong & N.H.XiaPrunus yunnanensis Franch. – Yunnan cherry
Nothospecies in this subgenus include:Prunus × chichibuensis H.Kubota & Moriya – Chichibu cherryPrunus × compta Tatew.Prunus × dawyckensis Sealy
Many Prunus species are called "cherries" but not included in this subgenus. They are not considered true cherries. Examples are:
  • Bush cherries which have three winter buds per axil, such as Oriental bush cherry, humble bush cherry, Nanking cherry and prostrate cherry, are now included in Prunus subg. Prunus. Sand cherry also belongs to P. subg. Prunus.
  • Bird cherries, chokecherry, black cherry, cherry laurels, hollyleaf cherry and Catalina cherry whose flowers and fruits are borne on racemes belong to P. subg. Padus.
  • The phylogenetic position of African cherry is still uncertain, but it is definitely not a true cherry species.