Prunus subg. Cerasus

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Rosids
Cladus: Eurosids I
Ordo: Rosales

Familia: Rosaceae
Subfamilia: Amygdaloideae
Tribus: Amygdaleae
Genus: Prunus
Subgenus: P. subg. Cerasus
Name

Prunus subg. Cerasus (Mill.) Pers., Syn. Pl. 2: 34. (1806)

Type species: Non designatus by Persoon.

Synonyms

Basionym
Cerasus Mill., Gard. Dict. Abr., ed. 4, textus s.n. 1754.

Heterotypic
Prunus sect. Mahaleb Koehne, Deutsch. Dendrol. 305. 1893.
Type species: P. mahaleb L.
Cerasus subgen. Padellus (Vassilcz.) Buzunova, Fl. Vostochnoĭ Evropy 10: 599. 2001.
Type species: C. mahaleb (L.) Mill.

Species overview

P. avium – P. campanulata – P. cerasoides – P. conradinae – P. discoidea – P. emarginata – P. itosakura – P. jamasakura – P. leveilleana – P. maximowiczii – P. pensylvanica – P. pseudocerasus – P. rufa – P. serrulata – P. speciosa – P. subhirtella – P. takesimensis – P. yedoensis
References

Persoon, C.H. 1806. Synopsis Plantarum 2(1): 34.
Li, M., Song, Y-F., Sylvester, S.P. & Wang, X-R. 2022. Comparative analysis of the complete plastid genomes in Prunus subgenus Cerasus (Rosaceae): Molecular structures and phylogenetic relationships. PLoS ONE 17(4): 1932–6203. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0266535 Open access Reference page.
Shi, S., Li, J., Sun, J., Yu, J. & Zhou, S. 2013. Phylogeny and classification of Prunus sensu lato (Rosaceae). Journal of Integrative Plant Biology 55 (11): 1069–1079. DOI: 10.1111/jipb.12095 Open access Reference page.
Engler, H.G.A. & Prantl, K.A.E. 1888. Naturlichen Pflanzenfamilien III, 3: 54.
Tropicos.org 2022. Prunus subg. Cerasus. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published online. Accessed: 26 Apr. 2022.
USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN) [Online Database]. [1]

Vernacular names
башҡортса: Сейә
български: Череша, Вишна
Deutsch: Kirsche
English: True cherries
español: Cereza
français: Cerise
magyar: Cseresznye
日本語: サクラ亜属
polski: Wiśnia
Türkçe: Kiraz

Prunus subg. Cerasus is a subgenus of Prunus. Species of the subgenus have a single winter bud per axil.[1][note 1] The flowers are usually in small corymbs or umbels of several together (occasionally solitary, e.g. P. serrula), but some species have short racemes (e.g. P. maacki). The fruit is a drupe and has no obvious groove along the side.[1] The subgenus is native to the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with two species in North America (P. emarginata and P. pensylvanica), four in Europe (P. avium, P. cerasus, P. fruticosa and P. mahaleb), two in North Africa (P. avium and P. mahaleb), and the remainder in Asia.

The fresh fruits of sweet cherry (worldwide) and Chinese cherry (in China) 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,[2] which include:

Prunus apetala (Siebold & Zucc.) Franch. & Sav. – clove cherry
Prunus avium (L.) L. – sweet cherry, wild cherry, mazzard or gean
Prunus campanulata Maxim. – bell-flowered cherry, Taiwan cherry or Formosan cherry
Prunus canescens Bois. – grey-leaf cherry
Prunus caudata Franch. – caudate cherry
Prunus cerasoides D. Don. – wild Himalayan cherry
Prunus cerasus L. – sour cherry
Prunus clarofolia C.K.Schneid. – shiny-leaf cherry
Prunus conadenia Koehne
Prunus conradinae Koehne
Prunus crataegifolia Hand.-Mazz. – hawthorn-leaf cherry
Prunus cyclamina Koehne – cyclamen cherry or Chinese flowering cherry
Prunus discadenia Koehne
Prunus discoidea (T.T.Yu & C.L.Li) Z.Wei & Y.B.Chang
Prunus dolichadenia Cardot
Prunus emarginata (Douglas ex Hook.) Walp. – bitter cherry or Oregon cherry
Prunus fruticosa Pall. – European dwarf cherry, dwarf cherry, Mongolian cherry or steppe cherry
Prunus hainanensis (G.A.Fu & Y.S.Lin) H.Yu, N.H.Xia & H.G.Ye – Hainan cherry
Prunus hefengensis (X.R.Wang & C.B.Shang) Y.H.Tong & N.H.Xia – Hefeng cherry
Prunus henryi (C.K.Schneid.) Koehne
Prunus himalaica Kitam. – Nepalese cherry
Prunus incisa Thunb. – Fuji cherry
Prunus itosakura Siebold
Prunus jamasakura Siebold ex Koidz. – Japanese mountain cherry or Japanese hill cherry
Prunus leveilleana Koehne (syn. Prunus verecunda (Koidz.) Koehne) – Korean mountain cherry
Prunus maackii Rupr. (syn. Prunus glandulifolia Rupr. & Maxim.) – Manchurian cherry
Prunus mahaleb L. – Saint Lucie cherry, rock cherry, perfumed cherry or mahaleb cherry
Prunus matuurai Sasaki – Taiping Mountain cherry
Prunus maximowiczii Rupr. – Miyama cherry or Korean cherry
Prunus mugus Hand.-Mazz.
Prunus nipponica Matsum. – Takane cherry, peak cherry or Japanese alpine cherry
Prunus pananensis Z.L.Chen, W.J.Chen & X.F.Jin – Pan'an cherry
Prunus patentipila Hand.-Mazz.
Prunus pensylvanica L.f. – pin cherry, fire cherry, or wild red cherry
Prunus pleiocerasus Koehne
Prunus polytricha Koehne
Prunus pseudocerasus Lindl. – Chinese cherry or Chinese sour cherry
Prunus pusilliflora Cardot
Prunus rufa Wall ex Hook.f. – Himalayan cherry
Prunus rufoides C.K.Schneid. (syn. Prunus dielsiana C.K. Schneid.) – tailed-leaf cherry
Prunus sargentii Rehder – northern Japanese hill cherry, northern Japanese mountain cherry or Sargent's cherry
Prunus schneideriana Koehne
Prunus serrula Franch. – paperbark cherry, birch bark cherry or Tibetan cherry
Prunus serrulata Lindl. – Japanese cherry, hill cherry, Oriental cherry or East Asian cherry
Prunus shikokuensis (Moriya) H.Kubota – Shikoku cherry
Prunus speciosa (Koidz.) Ingram – Oshima cherry
Prunus stipulacea Maxim.
Prunus sunhangii D.G.Zhang & T.Deng
Prunus szechuanica Batalin – Sichuan cherry
Prunus takasagomontana Sasaki
Prunus takesimensis Nakai – Ulleungdo cherry
Prunus tatsienensis Batalin – Kangding cherry
Prunus transarisanensis Hayata – Alishan cherry
Prunus trichantha Koehne
Prunus trichostoma Koehne
Prunus veitchii Koehne ()
Prunus xingshanensis Huan C.Wang – Xingshan cherry
Prunus yaoiana (W.L.Cheng) Y.H.Tong & N.H.Xia
Prunus yunnanensis Franch. – Yunnan cherry

Nothospecies in this subgenus include:

Prunus × chichibuensis H.Kubota & Moriya – Chichibu cherry
Prunus × compta (Koidz.) Tatew.
Prunus × dawyckensis Sealy
Prunus × eminens Beck
Prunus × fontanesiana (Spach) C.K.Schneid.
Prunus × furuseana Ohwi
Prunus × gondouinii (Poit. & Turpin) Rehder
Prunus × hisauchiana Koidz. ex Hisauti
Prunus × incam Ingram ex R.T.Olsen & Whittem.
Prunus × javorkae Kárpáti
Prunus × juddii E.S.Anderson
Prunus × kanzakura Makino
Prunus × kubotana Kawas.
Prunus × lannesiana (Carrière) E.H.Wilson
Prunus × mitsuminensis Moriya
Prunus × miyasakana H.Kubota
Prunus × mohacsyana Kárpáti
Prunus × nudiflora (Koehne) Koidz.
Prunus × oneyamensis Hayashi
Prunus × parvifolia (Matsum.) Koehne – small-leaved cherry
Prunus × pugetensis Jacobson & Zika – Puget Sound cherry
Prunus × sacra Miyoshi
Prunus × schmittii Rehder
Prunus × sieboldii (Carrière) Wittm.
Prunus × stacei Wójcicki
Prunus × subhirtella Miq. – Higan cherry or spring cherry
Prunus × syodoi Nakai
Prunus × tschonoskii Koehne
Prunus × yedoensis Matsum. – Yoshino cherry or Tokyo cherry
Prunus × yuyamae Sugim.

Many Prunus species are called "cherries" but not included in this subgenus. They are not considered true cherries.[2] Examples are:

Bush cherries which have three winter buds per axil, such as Oriental bush cherry (P. japonica), humble bush cherry (P. humilis), Nanking cherry (P. tomentosa) and prostrate cherry (P. prostrata), are now included in Prunus subg. Prunus.[2] Sand cherry (P. pumila) also belongs to P. subg. Prunus.[3]
Bird cherries (e.g. P. padus, P. grayana, P. napaulensis, P. ssiori), chokecherry (P. virginiana), black cherry (P. serotina), cherry laurels (e.g. P. laurocerasus, P. myrtifolia, P. pleuradenia), holyleaf cherry (P. ilicifolia) and Catalina cherry (P. i. subsp. lyonii) whose flowers and fruits are borne on racemes belong to P. subg. Padus.[2]
The phylogenetic position of African cherry (P. africana) is still uncertain, but it is definitely not a true cherry species.[4]

Notes

The species originally included in this subgenus with three axillary winter buds have been moved into the subgenus Prunus.[2]

References

"Cerasus in Flora of China". eFloras.org. Retrieved 2021-01-23.
Shi, Shuo; Li, Jinlu; Sun, Jiahui; Yu, Jing; Zhou, Shiliang (2013). "Phylogeny and Classification of Prunus sensu lato (Rosaceae)". Journal of Integrative Plant Biology. 55 (11): 1069–1079. doi:10.1111/jipb.12095. ISSN 1744-7909. PMID 23945216.
Wen, Jun; Berggren, Scott T.; Lee, Chung-Hee; Ickert-Bond, Stefanie; Yi, Ting-Shuang; Yoo, Ki-Oug; Xie, Lei; Shaw, Joey; Potter, Dan (2008-04-25). "Phylogenetic inferences in Prunus (Rosaceae) using chloroplast ndhF and nuclear ribosomal ITS sequences". Journal of Systematics and Evolution. 46 (3): 322–332. doi:10.3724/SP.J.1002.2008.08065 (inactive 31 July 2022). ISSN 1674-4918.
Zhao, Liang; Potter, Daniel; Xu, Yuan; Liu, Pei-Liang; Johnson, Gabriel; Chang, Zhao-Yang; Wen, Jun (2018). "Phylogeny and spatio-temporal diversification of Prunus subgenus Laurocerasus section Mesopygeum (Rosaceae) in the Malesian region". Journal of Systematics and Evolution. 56 (6): 637–651. doi:10.1111/jse.12467. ISSN 1759-6831. S2CID 91574826.