Prunus subg. Cerasus

Key takeaways

Prunus subg. Cerasus belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Prunus subg. Cerasus to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Prunus subg. Cerasus from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Prunus subg. Cerasus is a subgenus of Prunus, commonly known as the true cherries. Species of the subgenus have a single winter bud per axil. 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. 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, 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 harae H.Ohba & S.Akiyama 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 singalilaensis H.Ohba & S.Akiyama – Singalila 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 taplejungnica H.Ohba & S.Akiyama – Taplejung cherry Prunus tatsienensis Batalin – Kangding cherry Prunus topkegolensis H.Ohba & S.Akiyama – Topke Gola 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. 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. Sand cherry (P. pumila) also belongs to P. subg. Prunus. 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), hollyleaf cherry (P. ilicifolia) and Catalina cherry (P. i. subsp. lyonii) whose flowers and fruits are borne on racemes belong to P. subg. Padus. The phylogenetic position of African cherry (P. africana) is still uncertain, but it is definitely not a true cherry species.

Notes

References

External links Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana) (trees/handbook Chokecherry III-13, www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu)

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Prunus subg. Cerasus

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Prunus subg. Cerasus claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Prunus subg. Cerasus before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Prunus subg. Cerasus ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Prunus subg. Cerasus

In research: Prunus subg. Cerasus appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Prunus subg. Cerasus in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Prunus subg. Cerasus is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Cherries, Plant subgenera, Prunus, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Prunus subg. Cerasus outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study Prunus subg. Cerasus in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Prunus subg. Cerasus means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Prunus subg. Cerasus out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Prunus subg. Cerasus in simple terms?

Prunus subg. Cerasus is a subgenus of Prunus, commonly known as the true cherries.

Why does Prunus subg. Cerasus matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Prunus subg. Cerasus?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Prunus subg. Cerasus.