What are main types of Cherry trees? – Detailed answer
What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word “Cherry”? You will think about delicious cherry fruits in summertime or beautiful cherry blossoms in the spring? Both answers are right. The name “Cherry” refers to many plants of the genus Prunus. There are 3 main types of Cherry trees which are sweet cherry, sour cherry and flowering cherry. In today’s blog, we will give walk you through some of the most popular types of cherry trees with pictures. Are you ready? Go!
What Are Main Types Of Cherry Trees? – Detailed Answer
1. Sweet Cherry
Undoubtedly, sweet cherry is one of the most beloved fruits in the world. You can hardly resist the natural sweetness and fresh flavor of cherry. Imagine how pleasant it is to have a bite of a juicy cherry to cool down the heat of summer days.
There are a wide variety of cherries that can easily make you confused while shopping. If you are not sure which type of cherry to buy, do not worry! We narrowed down the choice to 4 outstanding names as below.
1.1. Bing
Bing is the most common and representative cherry of US. It has medium size, red-black colour and firm texture. Meanwhile, the flavor is intensely sweet and juicy. In fact, it can be considered one of the sweetest cherry trees. With attractive appearance and delicious taste, Bing cherry has always on top of the most selling cherry in the world. Moreover, it has set the standard for sweet cherries in general.
Bing cherry has set the standard for sweet cherries in general
1.2. Black Tartarian
Black Tartian, orignated in Russia, is a poupular type of Cherry. Its fruit is large, firm and dark red. If you are looking for a sweet, juicy cherry with an affordable price, Black Taritan is a perfect choice.
In comparison with other cherry tree varieties, Black Tartian is fairly easier to grow at home. In addition, this tree can bring to your home both pretty, sweet smelling flowers in the spring and abundant ripe fruits in early summer. These are 2 main reasons why Black Tartian is a comfortable choice for many house gardeners.
Black Tartian cherry is large, firm and dark red
1.3. Rainier
Rainer Cherry is a cross between Bing cherry and Van cherry. It is considered one of the most premium cherries in the world for many good reasons. Firstly, it has a very attractive look with shiny golden color and pink blushes on its skin. Besides, the plump heart-shaped shape makes Rainer cherry even more stunningly beautiful. Secondly, Rainer Cherry has an incredibly sweet delicate flavor. For sure, you can never forget its taste once you try it.
Due to its strict cultivated condition and high price, Rainer Cherry is not as popular in foreign countries as other types of cherry.
Rainer cherry is one of the most premium cherries in the world
1.4. Van
Van Cherry, originated from Canada, can be easily cultivated in many countries. It is also one of the best pollinators for any other sweet cherry tree. A big Van cherry tree produces medium, red glossy fruit with a sweet, pleasant flavor that is perfect for fresh eating. Van cherry is slightly smaller than Bing cherry but its sweetness is quite comparable. Like other types of cherries, it is a great source of vitamin C. If you’re looking for a sweet cherry type to improve your diet, Van cherry may be a good option
Van cherry is slightly smaller than Bing cherry but its sweetness is quite comparable
2. Sour Cherry (Tart Cherry)
Tart Cherries are great for making pie, juice or sauce. They are not only delicious but also very rich in nutrients. Many people use tart cherries to improve quality of their daily diets. In addition, tart cherry extract is very useful to treat Gout and osteoarthritis disease. There are many different types of cherry trees that produce sour cherries. Below are 3 most outstanding names.
2.1. Meteor
Of all the variety of cherries available, the Meteor is one of the most popular sour ones. The fruit is quite large, round and bright red like a little sun. It has excellent quality for making pie. It is hard to resist the perfect combination of sweetness from sugar and the mildly acidic taste of Meteor cherries. You can place Meteor cherries on top of crust, covering them with sugar and bake them until it’s tender and juicy.
2.2. English Morello
The name speaks itself. English Morello cherries, originated from the UK, are the most popular cherries for cooking here. They have dark red color on their skins and smaller size than that of general sweet cherries. English Morello cherries can be eaten fresh but they are more often used for baking and making jams..
2.3. Early Richmond Cherry Tree
Early Richmond cherries are very so popular in Europe. A mature tree can reach a height of 15-18 feet tall with a 12 to 30-foot spread. Hence, it allows people to harvest their delicious fruits within easy reach. They produces juicy fruits which are medium-sized and fairly sour. Similar to other tart cherries, they are perfect for making pies and jelly.
Early Richmond cherries are very so popular in Europe
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3. Flowering cherry
All cherry tree types have flowers but not every one of them is cultivated for purpose of flower blossom. The most popular species is the Japanese cherry. In Japan, watching cherry blossom in the spring has become an irreplaceable tradition. Are you planning to visit Japan, the land of cherry blossoms this spring? Do you know that there are more than 100 hundreds types of cherry blossom? How much do you know about them? In today’s blog, we will give you a short introduction of 5 most popular cherry blossoms in this beautiful country.
3.1. Weeping Cherry (Shidare Zakura)
The spring of Japan welcomes many visitors around the world with incredibly gorgeous blossom scene of Shidare zakura, a famous type of Japanese cherry blossom. This cherry tree has a height of 15 meters and a canopy width of 20 meters. Every year, in early April, the cherry blossoms blooming full of pink flowers. In windy days, the long, drooping branches of the flower make it looks like a waterfall that is flowing with pink lines. If you come to Japan in the spring, do not miss your chance to go to Kakunodate cherry blossom festival and immerse yourself in this peaceful atmosphere.
In windy days, the long, drooping branches of the flower make it looks like a waterfall that is flowing with pink lines
3.2. Yoshino
Yoshino cherry is considered the most popular cherry tree in Japan. You can see them in any city of Japan. This flower is a cross of Edohigan Zakura and Oshimazakura varieties. Many people love to grow this cherry type in their yards because it blooms first and then leaves grow later. Its flower is also bigger and looks more noble than that of other cherry trees. The peak bloom period is around the second half of April. Many Yoshino flowers were planted since Edo period. You can find the oldest Somei Yoshino cherry tree in Hirosaki Park.
Yoshino cherry is considered the most popular cherry tree in Japan.
3.3. Yamazakura
Yoshinoyama is a mountain in Nara. As the name implies, Yamazakura cherry is a type of mountain cherry blossom. It mainly appears in mountainous areas of Japan. While Somei Yoshino is the most widely cultivated hybrid cherry variety, Yamazakura is the most popular natural cherry variety. The flower is light pink with 5 small petals. Flowers usually bloom between mid-March and April in the Kanto area. If you have the opportunity to come here during the spring, you will surely be blown away by the magnificent blossom scene of Yamazakura.
While Somei Yoshino is the most widely cultivated hybrid cherry variety, Yamazakura is the most popular natural cherry variety.
3.4. Kanhizakura
Kanhizakura is one of the earliest blooming cherries. The flowering period is around the beginning of February. Because of the dark pink color of the flower, it is called Kanhi zakura (meaning red – pink sakura). Its flower has 5 petals and is shaped like a bell. To see this flower, you can go to Okinawa. There are thousands of Kanhizakura flowers here.
Kanhizakura is one of the earliest blooming cherries.
You can have a closer look at this beautiful flower in this video:
3.5. Edo-higanzakura
This is the flower with the longest life span in Japan. You can still find many many beautiful and famous old trees which are more than a hundreds years old. In fact, Jindai Zakura – Japan’s oldest cherry tree is also of the genus Edohigan Zakura. The tree is about 2000 years old. It has a height of 10.3 and is considered the first national symbol.
Edohigan is quite similar to Somei Yoshino, but it has smaller petals. You can see Edo higan in most areas of Japan from late March to early April, except for Hokkaido and Okinawa.
Edo-higanzakura is the flower with the longest life span in Japan
3.7. Ichiyou
Ichiyo is a popular cherry blossom that usually blooms in mid-April, especially in the Kanto region. This is a late-blooming cherry blossoms. Unlike the flower of other types of cherry trees which have five petals, Ichiyou has about 20-30 petals with lovely pastel pink color. This flower became truly splendid and impressive at the time of fullness. You can see this flower in many parks and gardens throughout Japan. There is even a major festival of this flower in Asakusa Kannon-ura. If you have a chance to visit Japan in April, do not hesitate to join this festival!
Ichiyo is a popular cherry blossom that usually blooms in mid-April, especially in the Kanto region
If you are wondering where are the best spots to view cherry blossom, please click on the link below for more information:
Conclusion
Hopefully, this blog has provided you useful and detailed information about main types of cherry trees. After reading this blog, you probably want to plant your own cherry tree now right? If you have any question, please feel free to share in comment section below.
