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The bird cherries are a subgenus
Subgenus

In biology, a subgenus is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. See rank and rank .In ICZN, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a binomen, in parentheses, placed between the name of a biological genus and specific name: e.g....
 of the genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 Prunus
Prunus

Prunus is a genus of trees and shrubs, including the plums, cherry, peaches, apricots and almonds. It is traditionally placed within the rose family Rosaceae as a subfamily, the Prunoideae , but sometimes placed in its own family, the Prunaceae ....
, characterised by having deciduous
Deciduous

Deciduous means falling off at maturity or tending to fall off and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe....
 leaves
Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
, flower
Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproduction structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds....
s 12-30 together on slender raceme
Raceme

A raceme is a type of inflorescence that is unbranched and indeterminate growth and bears pedicellate flowers — flowers having short floral stalks called Pedicel s — along the axis....
s produced in late spring well after leaf emergence, and small, sour fruit
Fruit

The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. In botany, which is the scientific study of plants, fruits are the ripened Ovary of flowering plants....
 usually only palatable to bird
Bird

Birds are wing, Bipedalismal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay egg . There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates....
s, hence the name. They are native throughout the temperate Northern Hemisphere
Northern Hemisphere

The Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is north of the equator?the word sphere literally means 'half sphere'. It is also that half of the celestial sphere north of the celestial equator....
. Bird cherry is sometimes used as a food plant by Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera is an order of insect that includes moths and butterfly. It is one of the most speciose orders in the class Insecta, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterfly, skipper , and Hedylidae....
 species including Brimstone Moth
Brimstone moth

The Brimstone Moth is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is found throughout the Palearctic region and the Near East.This species is unmistakable within its range, with bright yellow wings marked with small brown patches along the Glossary of Lepidopteran terms of the forewing and a small brown-edged white glossary of Lepidopteran terms...
.

Some bird cherries such as chokecherries
Chokecherry

The Chokecherry is a species of bird cherry native to North America, where it is found almost throughout the continent except for the deep south and the far north....
 are used to make jelly and wine in North America.

Some botanists treat the subgenus as a distinct genus Padus.

Trivia In Finland
Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland , is a Nordic countries situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland....
 the blooming of bird cherry (Prunus padus, Finnish tuomi) signifies the start of the summer for many people.






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Encyclopedia


The bird cherries are a subgenus
Subgenus

In biology, a subgenus is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. See rank and rank .In ICZN, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a binomen, in parentheses, placed between the name of a biological genus and specific name: e.g....
 of the genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 Prunus
Prunus

Prunus is a genus of trees and shrubs, including the plums, cherry, peaches, apricots and almonds. It is traditionally placed within the rose family Rosaceae as a subfamily, the Prunoideae , but sometimes placed in its own family, the Prunaceae ....
, characterised by having deciduous
Deciduous

Deciduous means falling off at maturity or tending to fall off and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe....
 leaves
Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
, flower
Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproduction structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds....
s 12-30 together on slender raceme
Raceme

A raceme is a type of inflorescence that is unbranched and indeterminate growth and bears pedicellate flowers — flowers having short floral stalks called Pedicel s — along the axis....
s produced in late spring well after leaf emergence, and small, sour fruit
Fruit

The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. In botany, which is the scientific study of plants, fruits are the ripened Ovary of flowering plants....
 usually only palatable to bird
Bird

Birds are wing, Bipedalismal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay egg . There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates....
s, hence the name. They are native throughout the temperate Northern Hemisphere
Northern Hemisphere

The Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is north of the equator?the word sphere literally means 'half sphere'. It is also that half of the celestial sphere north of the celestial equator....
. Bird cherry is sometimes used as a food plant by Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera is an order of insect that includes moths and butterfly. It is one of the most speciose orders in the class Insecta, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterfly, skipper , and Hedylidae....
 species including Brimstone Moth
Brimstone moth

The Brimstone Moth is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is found throughout the Palearctic region and the Near East.This species is unmistakable within its range, with bright yellow wings marked with small brown patches along the Glossary of Lepidopteran terms of the forewing and a small brown-edged white glossary of Lepidopteran terms...
.

Some bird cherries such as chokecherries
Chokecherry

The Chokecherry is a species of bird cherry native to North America, where it is found almost throughout the continent except for the deep south and the far north....
 are used to make jelly and wine in North America.

Some botanists treat the subgenus as a distinct genus Padus.

Species


  • Prunus cornuta - Himalayan Bird Cherry. Himalaya.
  • Prunus cuthbertii - Cuthbert Cherry. Georgia
    Georgia (U.S. state)

    Georgia is a U.S. state in the United States and was one of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against United Kingdom rule in the American Revolution....
    , United States
    United States

    The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
    .
  • Prunus grayana - Gray's Bird Cherry. Japan
    Japan

    Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
    .
  • Prunus maackii - Manchurian Cherry or Amur Chokecherry. Northeast Asia
    Asia

    Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
    .
  • Prunus padus - Bird Cherry
    Bird cherry

    The bird cherries are a subgenus of the genus Prunus, characterised by having deciduous leaf, flowers 12-30 together on slender racemes produced in late spring well after leaf emergence, and small, sour fruit usually only palatable to birds, hence the name....
     or European Bird Cherry. Europe
    Europe

    Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
     and western Asia.
    • Prunus padus var. commutata - Asian Bird Cherry. Eastern Asia.
  • Prunus serotina - Black Cherry. North America
    North America

    North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
    .
  • Prunus ssiori - Hokkaido Bird Cherry. Japan (Hokkaido
    Hokkaido

    , formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island and the largest, northernmost of its 47 prefectures of Japan....
    ).
  • Prunus virginiana - Chokecherry
    Chokecherry

    The Chokecherry is a species of bird cherry native to North America, where it is found almost throughout the continent except for the deep south and the far north....
    . North America.


Trivia

In Finland
Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland , is a Nordic countries situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland....
 the blooming of bird cherry (Prunus padus, Finnish tuomi) signifies the start of the summer for many people. In Southern Finland this normally takes place during the two last weeks of May or very early June.