What is "prunus avium"

Gean \Gean\, n. [F. guigne the fruit of the gean; cf. OHG. w[=i]hsila, G. weichsel.] (Bot.) A species of cherry tree common in Europe ( Prunus avium); also, the fruit, which is usually small and dark in color.

Cherry \Cher"ry\ (ch[e^]r"r[y^]), n. [OE. chery, for cherys, fr. F. cerise (cf. AS. cyrs cherry), fr. LL. ceresia, fr. L. cerasus Cherry tree, Gr. keraso`s, perh. fr. ke`ras horn, from the hardness of the wood.]

1. (Bot.) A tree or shrub of the genus Prunus (Which also includes the plum) bearing a fleshy drupe with a bony stone;

   1. The common garden cherry ( Prunus Cerasus), of which several hundred varieties are cultivated for the fruit, some of which are, the begarreau, blackheart, black Tartarian, oxheart, morelle or morello, May-duke (corrupted from M['e]doc in France).

   2. The wild cherry; as, Prunus serotina (wild black cherry), valued for its timber; Prunus Virginiana (choke cherry), an American shrub which bears astringent fruit; Prunus avium and Prunus Padus, European trees (bird cherry).

2. The fruit of the cherry tree, a drupe of various colors and flavors.

3. The timber of the cherry tree, esp. of the black cherry, used in cabinetmaking, etc.

4. A peculiar shade of red, like that of a cherry. Barbadoes cherry. See under Barbadoes. Cherry bird (Zo["o]l.), an American bird; the cedar bird; -- so called from its fondness for cherries. Cherry bounce, cherry brandy and sugar. Cherry brandy, brandy in which cherries have been steeped. Cherry laurel (Bot.), an evergreen shrub ( Prunus Lauro-cerasus) common in shrubberies, the poisonous leaves of which have a flavor like that of bitter almonds. Cherry pepper (Bot.), a species of Capsicum ( Capsicum cerasiforme), with small, scarlet, intensely piquant cherry-shaped fruit. Cherry pit.

   1. A child's play, in which cherries are thrown into a hole.
      --Shak.

   2. A cherry stone.

      Cherry rum, rum in which cherries have been steeped.

      Cherry sucker (Zo["o]l.), the European spotted flycatcher ( Musicapa grisola); -- called also cherry chopper cherry snipe.

      Cherry tree, a tree that bears cherries.

      Ground cherry, Winter cherry, See Alkekengi.

Prunus avium, commonly called wild cherry, sweet cherry, or gean, is a species of cherry native to Europe, Anatolia, Maghreb, and western Asia, from the British Isles south to Morocco and Tunisia, north to the Trondheimsfjord region in Norway and east to the Caucasus and northern Iran, with a small isolated population in the western Himalaya. The species is widely cultivated in other regions and has become naturalized in North America and Australia.

Prunus avium, in the rose family, has a diploid set of sixteen chromosomes (2n = 16).

All parts of the plant except for the ripe fruit are slightly toxic, containing cyanogenic glycosides.