chuckwood
Addicted to ArboristSite
- Joined
- Jan 26, 2008
- Messages
- 8,681
- Reaction score
- 15,518
- Location
- near the Great Smoky Mtns. Tennessee
I've got four of these trees. A local small farmer had some 15 years ago and gave us some plants, she sold the cherries to a small clientele of customers who knew how to make jelly from them. This is not a real cherry tree, it's in the dogwood family and has been known and used since ancient times in the Mediterranean. The wood is almost as hard as ironwood, and was used thousands of years ago for making weapons. The cherries themselves are very sour and a bit astringent, they are loaded with vitamin C and a host of other beneficial nutrients. Didn't have enough time to mess with 'em this year, and got too much frozen Cornelian Cherry juice that was made last year. Here's something about this tree copied from a website, and I've posted a pic of one of my trees. They are getting tall and bushy now.
"This small, upright to spreading, 15- to 20-foot-tall tree bears small yellow flowers very early (in late winter or early spring) before leaves develop. Flower buds are conspicuous and attractive in winter, and the bark is flaky, exfoliating and gray-brown to brown. Foliage turns purplish-red in fall.
The fruits, about the size and shape of a medium-sized olive, ripen to a dark reddish-maroon in late summer. They are delightful in jellies, tarts and sweetmeats, and are also used to flavor sherbets and distilled spirits."
"This small, upright to spreading, 15- to 20-foot-tall tree bears small yellow flowers very early (in late winter or early spring) before leaves develop. Flower buds are conspicuous and attractive in winter, and the bark is flaky, exfoliating and gray-brown to brown. Foliage turns purplish-red in fall.
The fruits, about the size and shape of a medium-sized olive, ripen to a dark reddish-maroon in late summer. They are delightful in jellies, tarts and sweetmeats, and are also used to flavor sherbets and distilled spirits."
