Prunus maximowiczii
Species of tree
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Prunus maximowiczii, known as Korean cherry,[4] Korean mountain cherry,[5] or Miyama cherry,[6] is a small (about 7.5 m), fruiting cherry tree that can be found growing wild in northeastern Asia and Eurasia.
| Prunus maximowiczii | |
|---|---|
| |
| At Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Embryophytes |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Rosales |
| Family: | Rosaceae |
| Genus: | Prunus |
| Subgenus: | Prunus subg. Cerasus |
| Species: | P. maximowiczii |
| Binomial name | |
| Prunus maximowiczii | |
| Synonyms | |
Taxonomy
The species was first described in 1857 by Franz Josef Ruprecht. It was treated in the genus Cerasus (now generally accepted as a subgenus of Prunus) by Vladimir Leontyevich Komarov in 1927, but the original P. maximowiczii remains the widely accepted binomial.[2][3]
Description
P. maximowiczii has white, insect-pollinated, hermaphroditic flowers, blooming in May in the Northern Hemisphere, November in the Southern Hemisphere. The edible fruits (cherries) are about 5 mm in diameter, containing one large seed each. They ripen in August in the Northern Hemisphere, February in the Southern Hemisphere.[7]
Range and habitat
Uses
P. maximowiczii is useful in many ways; aside from eating the fruit, the flowers can be used as a condiment, preserved in brine.[7]
The wood of P. maximowiczii is very hard, heavy, and close grained, making it excellent for carving and the making of furniture.[7]
Dyes produced from the leaves of P. maximowiczii are green; and those from the fruit, a dark grey to green.[7]
Chemically, amygdalin and prunasin, the derivatives of which produce prussic acid[7] as well as Genistein[9] can be extracted from P. maximowiczii.