What is "cherry plum"

n. 1 ''Prunus cerasifera, a deciduous ornamental Eurasian shrub or small tree, having white flowers and small red to yellow edible fruits. 2 The fruit of such a tree.

n. small Asiatic tree bearing edible red or yellow fruit; used in Europe as budding stock [syn: myrobalan, myrobalan plum, Prunus cerasifera]

Prunus cerasifera is a species of plum known by the common names cherry plum and myrobalan plum. It is native to Europe and Asia and naturalized in scattered locations in North America.

Wild types are large shrubs or small trees reaching 6–15 m (20–50 feet) tall, with deciduous leaves 4–6 cm (1.6–2.4 inches) long. It is one of the first European trees to flower in spring, often starting in mid-February. The flowers are white and about 2 cm (0.8 inches) across, with five petals. The fruit is a drupe, 2–3 cm in diameter, and yellow or red. It is edible, and reaches maturity from early July to mid-September.

Cultivated cherry plums can have fruits, foliage, and flowers in any of several colors. Some varieties have sweet fruits that can be eaten fresh, while others are sour and better for making jam.

Cherry plums are a key ingredient in Georgian cuisine where they are used to produce tkemali sauce, as well as a number of popular dishes, such as kharcho soup and chakapuli stew.

The cherry plum is a popular ornamental tree for garden and landscaping use, grown for its very early flowering. Numerous cultivars have been developed, many of them selected for purple foliage, such as 'Atropurpurea'. These purple-foliage forms (often called purple-leaf plum), also have dark purple fruit, which make an attractive, intensely coloured jam. They can have white or pink flowers. The cultivar 'Thundercloud' has bright red foliage which darkens purple. Others, such as 'Lindsayae', have green foliage. Some kinds of purple-leaf plums are used for bonsai and other forms of living sculpture.

The variety 'Nigra' with black foliage and pink flowers, has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

The cherry plum has been listed as one of the 38 plants that are used to prepare Bach flower remedies, a kind of alternative medicine promoted for its effect on health. However, according to Cancer Research UK, "there is no scientific evidence to prove that flower remedies can control, cure or prevent any type of disease, including cancer".