''Prunus pseudocerasus'' or ''Prunus pseudo-cerasus'', the Chinese sour cherry or just Chinese cherry, is a species of

cherry A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet '' Prunus avium'' and the sour '' Prunus cerasus''. The na ...

native to China, It is used worldwide as an ornamental for its early spring

cherry blossom The cherry blossom, or sakura, is the flower of trees in ''Prunus'' subgenus '' Cerasus''. ''Sakura'' usually refers to flowers of ornamental cherry trees, such as cultivars of ''Prunus serrulata'', not trees grown for their fruit (although ...

s. The fruit of some cultivars are edible.

Description

A small bushy tree growing to at most , it generally has reddish buds, shell pink flowers and typical red (if a bit pale) cherries. It can be distinguished from its congeners by certain traits; its leaves are broadly obovate, with an acuminate tip, flat and serrated, its inflorescences are corymbose or subumbellate, with at least three and as many as seven flowers, and its branches and peduncles are pubescent.

Uses

In China it has been cultivated for its edible (if tart) fruit for around 2000 years. In Japan it is favored as an

ornamental tree Ornamental plants or ''garden plants'' are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars th ...

for its tendency to bloom, flowers before leaves, earlier than the Japanese cherry ''

Prunus serrulata ''Prunus serrulata'' or Japanese cherry is a species of cherry tree that grows wild in Japan, China, Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Philippines, Malaysia, Indones ...

''. A

tetraploid Polyploidy is a condition in which the cells of an organism have more than two paired sets of ( homologous) chromosomes. Most species whose cells have nuclei (eukaryotes) are diploid, meaning they have two complete sets of chromosomes, one fro ...

with 2n=32 chromosomes, it is used as rootstock for other flowering cherries. It is the parent of a number of hybrid cultivars. It is resistant to the fungal disease cherry leaf spot. ''P. pseudocerasus'' is near extinction in the wild due to anthropogenic activities.

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{{Taxonbar, from1=Q2715071, from2=Q15534770, from3=Q50857946, from4=Q50847829, from5=Q11054203 pseudocerasus Cherry blossom Cherries Sour fruits Trees of China Garden plants of Asia Ornamental trees Plants described in 1826