Stella is a cultivar 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 ...

developed in

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. It is notable as the first

self-fertile Self-incompatibility (SI) is a general name for several genetic mechanisms that prevent self-fertilization in sexual reproduction, sexually reproducing organisms, and thus encourage outcrossing and allogamy. It is contrasted with separation of sexe ...

sweet cherry to be named.UC Davis Foundation Plant Services Prunus Encyclopedia
/ref> It has been awarded the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. It includes the full range of cultivated p ...

.Award of Garden Merit Plants - Fruits and Vegetables
/ref>

Cultivar history

The Stella variety was the result of a breeding program at the John Innes Institute in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

, England. That program developed three self-fertile seedlings, which were used in attempts to breed high-quality self-fertile cherry trees.Fruit Varieties and Horticultural Digest
/ref> One of the seedlings was crossed with the Lambert variety at the Summerland Research Station in Summerland, British Columbia in 1956 by K. O. Lapins (namesake of the Lapins cherry cultivar), and the resulting hybrid tree was named "Stella" in 1968.Stella, a Self-Fruitful Sweet Cherry
Canadian Journal of Plant Science 51:252–253 (May 1971) It has since been used to develop other cultivars, including the Chelan cherry.WSU Tree Fruit: Chelan

Washington State University Washington State University (WSU, or colloquially Wazzu) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Pullman, Washington, United States. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest Land-grant uni ...

Tree characteristics

The Stella cherry tree is a vase-shaped tree with a mature height of about 20–30 feet and a spread of about 15 feet.Trees for Seattle
/ref> The tree blossoms early and fruits early, with moderate to heavy crops. Though it is considered a universal pollinator for other sweet cherry varieties, it has been found to not pollinate the Bing cherry variety in some regions.WSU Tree Fruit: Sweet Cherry Pollination

The tree can grow well in USDA Hardiness Zones 5–8.

Fruit characteristics

The fruit of the Stella cultivar is large, heart-shaped, and dark red, with overall excellent quality.USU Extension

Utah State University Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public university, public land grant colleges, land-grant research university with its main campus in Logan, Utah, United States. Founded in 1888 under the Morrill Land-Grant Acts as Utah's federal ...

It ripens about 1 week earlier than Bing.

Compact Stella

A compact version of Stella was developed through X-ray irradiation of dormant Stella scions in 1964 at the

Brookhaven National Laboratory Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) is a United States Department of Energy national laboratories, United States Department of Energy national laboratory located in Upton, New York, a hamlet of the Brookhaven, New York, Town of Brookhaven. It w ...

in New York. This semi-dwarf variety of the cultivar grows to about half the size of the parent variety. It retains the parent variety's self-fertility and fruits early and heavily. It was named "Compact Stella" in 1973."New fruits from Summerland, British Columbia"
/ref>

References

{{Cherries Cherry cultivars Crops originating from Canada