Cherry plum is the original form of home plum. Cherry plum also has other names: spreading plum or cherry-like. This is a unique specimen of wild-growing plums. The fruit tree belongs to the Plum genus. Mostly distributed in the Caucasus, Asia Minor and Iran. Cherry plum is a light-loving tree, it is drought-resistant and develops best on neutral soils. An adult tree reaches a height of 13 meters. On average, cherry plum lives for 45 years, but there are also 60-year-old representatives of this plant species. Tree propagation is possible both with the help of seeds and layering. New seedlings are also obtained by grafting.
Description of cherry plum fruit
Cherry plum branches well, it can be either single-barreled or multi-barreled. The favorable climate of the southern regions allows the tree to be 15 meters high. In the north, cherry plum reaches only 4-5 meters. Sometimes the plant looks like a large shrub.
The trunk diameter of mature trees is about half a meter. Trees have a spherical, spreading, often dense crown. Shoots are reddish-brown in color, have thorns. The root system of cherry plum is superficial, on loose soils it goes down to 12 meters, and the denser ones do not allow you to go further than 2 meters deep. The roots often extend beyond the crown of the tree, spreading radially up to 10 meters. Root shoots rarely form if the roots are damaged.
Cherry plum leaf is dark green in summer and yellow in autumn, oval or oblong with a pointed top, 4 cm long.
Cherry plum flowers can be white or have a pink tint. On each peduncle there are one, less often two flowers. The diameter of the flowers is 20-40 mm. Annual shoots and overgrowing bloom profusely. Flowering begins at the same time as foliage opens, or even earlier. At this time, the trees are most decorative. Flowering occurs in early May and lasts for a week, sometimes for several days more. In autumn, you can also see the flowering of the tree, but it is weak and quite rare.
Cherry plum is different in that it ripens quickly. Trees begin to bear fruit in the third year after planting. In many varieties, flower buds are laid at an early stage of development. The shape of the cherry plum fruit is round, sometimes elongated or flattened, with a small groove along the entire fruit. In wild plants, fruits are from 3 to 6 g, and in cultivated plants - ten times more. The pulp of the fruit is watery, sometimes of a gristly consistency, green-yellow or pink in color, with a sweet and sour taste. The color of the fruit depends on the variety, it ranges from green-yellow to red-violet and even black. Cherry plum fruits are covered with a white waxy coating. Cherry plum ripens in August-September.
The use of cherry plum in culture
Wild cherry plum is widespread not only in its homeland, in the Caucasus, but also in vast territories stretching from the foothills of the Alps to the north of the foothill regions of the Himalayas. The tree grows mainly in undergrowth and bushes along the river banks. It has been grown in gardens for a long time. This fruit began to be eaten in the first century AD.
Due to its low frost resistance, until recently, cherry plum was distributed only in areas with a warm climate. However, today breeders have developed new varieties that are resistant to frost and perfectly tolerate the harsh Russian winters both in the west of the country and in its central regions and even in the Far Eastern regions. The breeders received such zoned forms from the Chinese plum, which is not afraid of low temperatures and firmly tolerates frosts down to -50 ° C.
Cherry plum fruits are very useful and have a pleasant taste. They are directly eaten, or used for cooking compotes and preserves. Sauces and condiments are also made from the fruit.
The most decorative forms of trees are used in landscape design. Varieties with variegated foliage, which have a weeping or pyramidal crown, are well suited for this. Citric acid is obtained from green cherry plum on an industrial scale. Unripe fruits contain large amounts of it (up to 14% of dry weight). This method of producing citric acid is quite easy and is notable for its cheapness.
Cherry plum is undemanding to soils and tolerates droughts well. Begins to bear fruit at a young age, giving every year a high yield, reaching 300 kg per tree. A distinctive feature of the plant is also the life expectancy and fruiting period. Of the 45-60 years of life, 20-25 years fall on the period of active fruiting.
But with all these advantages, cherry plum also has disadvantages. They still include not very good winter hardiness. Low temperatures damage wood. And prolonged temperature rises lead to the beginning of the growing season of the plant after a short dormancy. Because of this, the awakened kidneys fall under the blow of the returned cold. In most cases, single cherry plum trees do not yield crops. Therefore, for a good yield, it is necessary to plant 2-3 trees.
Cherry plum varieties
As already mentioned, cherry plum has several names. The first of them - spreading plum - is used for wild-growing specimens, the second - cherry-like plum - for cultivated plants. In addition, there are three varieties of cherry plum that differ from each other. The first variety is typical, also called the Caucasian wild. The second is the eastern, or Central Asian wild. The third is large-fruited. The first two subspecies include uncultivated plant forms. The third subspecies are cultivated garden trees. But the large-fruited cherry plum is also divided into a number of varieties. They all depend on the region in which the crop is cultivated. Such a division determines the various characteristics of plants, which are determined by the goals of their cultivation in a particular region. For example, Georgian cherry plum is used to make sauces, and the Crimean variety has large fruits and an excellent dessert taste.
Cherry plum pissard is ideal for landscape design. She amazes with the abundance of red-pink hues in everything, be it flowers or leaves. However, representatives of this variety also have large fruits and are pleasant to the taste.
Many domestic varieties of cherry plum, which have large fruits, were obtained from the Crimean cherry plum. The fruits of these varieties can have different colors and shades: from yellow to red and purple-black. It is noteworthy that the chemical composition of the fruit depends on its color.
Cherry plum fruits are rich in various vitamins and help in the fight against many diseases.
A special achievement of breeders is the columnar-shaped cherry plum variety. This variety is quite compact, there are practically no branches on the tree, and the fruits grow right on the trunk. Such a tree does not need a lot of space, and it is convenient to harvest from it. In addition, there is no need to prune wood at all.
In addition, one very important feature of the plant should be noted: it can be crossed with related plants, obtaining fertile offspring.For example, nectarine is an interspecific hybrid of cherry plum and peach. This property of cherry plum allows breeders to create cultures of interspecific hybrids.
