Sour Cherry

The Sour Cherry is a species of Prunus in the subgenus Cerasus (cherries), native to much of Europe and southwest Asia. It is closely related to the wild cherry, but has a fruit that is more acidic and so is useful primarily for cooking.

The tree is smaller than the wild cherry (growing to a height of 4–10 m), has twiggy branches, and its crimson-to-near-black cherries are borne upon shorter stalks.

There are two varieties of the Sour Cherry: the dark-red morello cherry and the lighter-red amarelle cherry.

Cultivated Sour Cherries were selected from wild specimens of Prunus cerasus and the doubtfully distinct P. acida from around the Caspian and Black Seas, and were known to the Greeks in 300 BC. They were also extremely popular with Persians and the Romans who introduced them into Britain long before the 1st century AD. The fruit remains popular in modern-day Iran.

In Britain, their cultivation was popularised in the 16th century in the time of Henry VIII.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sour_cherry - 10.06.2010