Prunus avium

Bird cherry (Prunus avium)

The bird cherry (Prunus avium) is a species of the genus Prunus in the rose family ( Rosaceae ). The specific epithet avium derives from the Latin word avis for bird and refers to the fruits that are readily eaten by birds.

From the wild-type Wild bird cherry (Prunus avium subsp. Avium) are cultivated forms cartilage cherry (Prunus avium subsp. Duracina ) and heart - cherry (Prunus avium subsp. Juliana ) derived. These cultured forms are distinguished primarily by larger leaves and larger and sweeter fruits and are generally referred to as a sweet cherry.

Description

Vegetative characteristics

The bird cherry is a deciduous tree that stature heights of 15 to 20, rarely reaches up to 30 meters.

The bark of young branches is initially green, glabrous, smooth, leathery, shiny and later reddish - gray. It contains broad, rust-colored lenticels and there are horizontal stripes visible. The blackish bark peels off slowly and horizontally is called " Ringelborke ".

Her crown is broadly conical. The branches are thick and replete with short shoots. There is a terminal bud on long shoots. The winter buds are ovoid - ellipsoid and hairless.

The alternate arranged on the branches leaves are divided into petiole and leaf blade. The 2-7 cm long, glabrous petiole has two reddish nectar glands at its upper end. In the vernation the leaf blade is folded. The simple leaf blade is 3-15 cm long and 2-7 cm wide, elliptic to elliptic- verkehrteiförmig - ovate and pointed more or less long at the upper end. The base of the leaf blade is wedge-shaped to rounded. The leaf margin is irregular and coarsely doubly serrate with glandular tips. The upper leaf surface is bare and fresh green, dark green on the lower leaf surface, the nerves are initially slightly hairy. There are seven to twelve lateral nerves on each side of the main nerve. The fall color of the foliage is bright red and yellow. The two lineal stipules are about 1 cm long with margins glandular serrate.

Generative features

On short shoots a small, almost sitting, Doldiger inflorescence is formed which contains only usually three to four ( two to six ) flowers. This includes the share of small, non- deciduous leaf-like bud scales. During the heyday of the inner bud scales are repulsed. The flowers appear with the leaves around April-May The protruding flower stem is bare and 2-6 cm long.

The hermaphrodite, radiärsymmetrische, fivefold flower has a diameter of 2.5-3.5 cm and has a double perianth. The bald flower cup ( hypanthium ) is bell-shaped and about 5 × 4 mm in size. The five entire, long elliptical, bare and reddish sepals are about as long as the flower cups and curved back after pollination. The five free, white petals are entire, obovate and 9-15 mm long. The approximately 20 to 34 stamens are shorter than the petals. The anthers are yellow. The bald pen is about as long as the stamens.

In an older, free-standing bird cherry blossom can simultaneously up to a million flowers.

The fruit stalk is nodding. Stone fruits are almost spherical to ellipsoidal or egg-shaped and have a diameter of 6-25 mm. The flesh is sweet, slightly bittersweet with the wild forms. When oblong- ovate and smooth stone core length of 7-9 mm is sufficient for the wild forms up to 9-16 mm in the cultivated forms. The endocarp is smooth. The fruits ripen between June and July and then turning into black and tan.

The chromosome number 2n = 16 is usually (there are also 17, 18, 19, 24, 32 and 36 before ).

Ecology

At the upper end of the petiole sit 2 (2-3) red, extra-floral nectaries, where sugar juice is released. As suspected for some time, it involves " police fodder" for ants. The nectar production in the glands is in the first few weeks especially great after budding and attracts large amounts of the ant Formica obscuripes that attack the still small harmful caterpillars.

The numbers that appear from April to May flowers are homo game nectar Leading disk flowers and smell faintly of honey. The ovary is one - fächrig, medium continuously, so do not grow together with the flower cups. The nectar is secreted by flower cups; Therefore, this smells stronger than the petals. For pollinators, especially bees relatives, the nectar is easily accessible. Honey bees also collect pollen abundant; on the body of a bee was found up to a million pollen grains. The scar is capable of conception until 36 hours after the flowers opening. Self-pollination is partially successful. After pollination of the flower cup is dropped due to an annular separation fabric.

Dissemination mechanisms of single-seeded drupes are: digestion by mammalian distribution, mouth spread during peeling of the flesh by birds and hiding spread by squirrels and mice. Grosbeak, the stone cores crack. Fruit ripening in July. The cotyledons turn green after germination above the ground ( epigeal germination ). Vegetative propagation is very ample by root sprouts, which are often several meters away from the parent plant.

Dissemination

The natural range includes the submeridionale to temperate Europe, the north of Turkey, Caucasus, Transcaucasia and northern Iran. The northern limit of distribution lies in the west of Europe at about 54 ° north latitude, to the east on a line of Minsk on Kursk and Voronezh to Rostov and in southern Central Asia. In Scandinavia, the northern border is due to the difficulty of distinguishing wild and cultivated forms, unclear. Was naturalized the bird cherry in North Africa, Südturkestan, the Indian subcontinent and in eastern North America.

Habitat

The Wild Wild cherry grows in weedy deciduous and mixed coniferous forest companies such as oak and hornbeam, beech, maple Linden escarpment or alder - elm forests. It is a characteristic species of Carpinion Association, in which is also its center of gravity. In other forest communities it usually occurs only mixed. The species can, however, because of their strong self- rejuvenation dominant veritable bird - cherries - forests, which need to be converted into terminal oak -beech forests very long.

The bird cherry is found as a heat- loving half Schattengewächs also at forest edges, in hedgerows, on stone back in elderberry cherry, snowball dogwood and blackthorn bushes and at higher elevations in the Vorwaldgesellschaften of European beech forests. The preferred soil is fresh ( sickerfeuchte ), medium to deep, nutrient - rich base to clay or Mullböden. In the Alps, the bird cherry altitudes reach 1700 meters, the Caucasus up to 2000 meters. The habitat requirements of the two forms of culture are similar.

System

The bird cherry is placed in the section Cerasus subgenus Cerasus within the genus Prunus, along with the sour cherry (Prunus cerasus ) and the steppe cherry (Prunus fruticosa ).

From Prunus avium three subspecies are distinguished:

• The Wild Wild cherry or wild cherry (Prunus avium L. subsp. Avium) is the wild clan. Its leaves are small. The fruits are black, small, and have a diameter of less than one centimeter. The flesh tastes bittersweet and is only slightly juicy.
• The cartilage cherry (Prunus avium subsp. Duracina (L.) Schübler et Martens ), regional and noise cherry, Knubber or Knupper, has very large leaves. The fruits are usually black-red, sometimes white, tall and have a diameter of more than one centimeter. The flesh is yellow or red, cartilaginous and firm.
• The heart cherry or soft cherry (Prunus avium subsp. Juliana (L.) Schübler et Martens ) has larger leaves than the wild clan. The fruits are usually blackish red, yellow or white and very large, its diameter is more than an inch. The flesh is red or black and tan, soft and very juicy.

Economic use

The cultivation of sweet cherries is in Germany to the apples of the most important according to area tree fruit growing (2009: 5,440 ha). The yields are lower than in the other species of fruits (average from 2005 to 2009: 5.8 t / ha), so that the harvest quantities of pears and plums / prunes are fourth (average 2005-2009: 31,700 t). The yield per tree swayed in the period 1997-2008 between 11.3 kg (1997) and 26.7 kg ( 2000 ), 2007 were 2.15 million used sweet cherry trees in orchards. In the long run, take the used areas from (1992: 5,875 ha). The stocking densities take something stronger (1972: 194 1/ha; 2007: 392 1/ha ), but well below the average for all increasing even more fruit trees ( 2007: 1,626 1/ha ). Sweet cherries are therefore the largest trees in orchards. This is especially true for southern Germany. The highest density of 998 trees per hectare was applied in 2007 in North Rhine -Westphalia, the lowest with 279 trees per hectare in Baden- Württemberg. In Baden- Württemberg, where, with 2,125 ha are 40 percent of the acreage, is also the focus Süßkirschanbaus in Germany. Here is a long-term increase in the area and the proportion recorded (1972: 1,098 ha, 25%, only old countries), although the total area of ​​the cherry crop is on the decline. The cultivation in the other countries is declining or stagnating at a low level.

Cherry wood is used mainly as plywood for interior design as well as particular as a furniture wood. As firewood, however, plays no economic role cherry wood.

In beekeeping, the sweet cherry because of the high sugar content of their nectar ( 21-58 %) and their high sugar value ( up to 1.5 mg of sugar per day per flower) is an estimated costume.

The wild form of the bird cherry (Prunus avium ) is often used as a backing for the refinement of the Japanese flowering cherry. For the refinement of the cultivar of sweet cherry and sour cherry wild forms of the bird cherry were used in the 19th century as well. Since the 20th century it was used more specifically, for example, of the East Malling Research Station, selected forms of the bird cherry.

An old culture is the cherry fruit in Burgenland, Austria, where it was originally cultivated in the vineyards between the rows of vines. The Horitschoner heart cherry, as this variety is called, should be similar due to fruit shape, color and ripening period originating from Silesia Germer villages variety. The sale of cherries to Vienna brought the wine farmers an additional income. The Horitschoner heart cherry brandy, also made from the heart cherry has also been included in the register of traditional foods due to the longstanding processing in this region.

The situation is similar in the area between the south-eastern slopes of the Leitha Mountains and the northwestern shore of Lake Neusiedl, where both the Leitha Berger precious cherry was recorded in the register and also the region as Genussregion Austria has been registered.

Varieties

There are numerous varieties of cherry (selection):

Cartilage - cherries:

• Adler of Cherry Baertschi, a proven variety (synonyms: ' ox heart cherry ', ' Besigheimer cherry ')
• ' Badasconer '
• Bath Borner cartilage Black Cherry
• Büttner's Red cartilage Cherry, an unpretentious and yielding variety (synonym: ' Altenburger melon cherry ')
• ' Charm ', an early variety (synonyms: ' Äpfeleskirsche ', ' Beauty vdPfalz ')
• Dönissens yellow cartilage cherry, a vigorous and hardy variety ( synonyms: ' Amber Cherry ', ' sulfur cherry ', ' wax cherry ')
• ' Farnstädter Black ', a variety with very aromatic fruit
• ' Geisenheim Black ', a large fruit -bearing and rich variety
• ' Germer villages ' (synonym: ' marble cherry ')
• Large Princess, is considered one of the best cartilage cherries (synonyms: ' Napoleon cherry ', ' emperor cherry ')
• Big black cherry cartilage, one of the oldest and most widespread varieties
• Hedelfinger, a relatively late fruiting and richly -bearing variety ( synonyms: ' Wahler cherry ', ' mirror cherry ')
• ' Offenburger shaker ', a predominantly grown in the Black Forest variety
• ' Knight cherry ', a burning and cherry juice
• Schneiders late cartilage Cherry, a large-fruited varieties and widespread
• 'Star ', a large-fruited variety
• ' Starking Hardy Giant', a large-fruited variety
• ' Unterländer ', an early variety
• ' Van', a fruit-bearing early age variety

Heart Cherries:

• ' Alma ', a robust variety
• Annabella, a vigorous variety
• ' Bleyhls Brown '
• Burlat, an early variety
• ' Coburg mai' (synonym: ' Koburger Maiherzkirsche ')
• Dolle Seppler, an undemanding variety
• ' Early Red Mecke Heier ', a rich variety bearing
• Earliest of Mark, the earliest variety, according to her cherry weeks shall be determined
• Kassins Early, a strong growing early variety
• Knauffs Black, an early variety
• ' Lucien ', a variety with very juicy fruits (synonym: ' water Cherry ')
• ' Mödinger ', an old Preserving and juice Places
• ' Primavera ', a very early variety
• Schmahlfelds Black, a much grown in the area Havel variety
• 'Black Queen ' (synonym: 'Black Short Stieler ')
• ' Tip Brown, a planted in vineyards variety
• Teickners Black Heart Cherry, a Central German variety
• Valeska, a species in more northerly regions
• Werdersche Brown, a Central German variety

For more varieties, see List of cherry varieties.

Tree of the Year

On 22 October 2009, the bird cherry tree was chosen in Germany for the year 2010.

Customs

The bird cherry is one of the fruit trees that can be used as Barbara branch. At branches, which on December 4 ( Barbara's ) are placed in the vase in a warm room, still appear before Christmas flowers.