Prunus avium (L.) L.

Prunus avium, commonly called wild cherry, sweet cherry or gean, is a species of cherry, a flowering plant in the rose family, Rosaceae. It is native to western Eurasia and naturalized elsewhere. It is an ancestor of P. cerasus.

Source: Wikipedia

Synonyms 43

Cerasus actiana, Cerasus anglica, Cerasus avicularis, Cerasus avium, Cerasus bigarella, Cerasus decumana, Cerasus dulcis, Cerasus duracina, Cerasus juliana, Cerasus nigricans, Cerasus pallida, Cerasus regalis, Cerasus rubicunda, Cerasus sativa, Cerasus silvestris, Cerasus sylvestris, Cerasus tenera, Cerasus varia, Druparia avium, Prunus bigarella, Prunus duracina, Prunus nigricans, Prunus rubicunda, Prunus rubra, Prunus varia, Cerasus avium subsp. duracina, Cerasus avium subsp. juliana, Cerasus avium subsp. sylvestris, Prunus avium subsp. actiana, Prunus avium subsp. duracina, Prunus avium subsp. juliana, Prunus avium subsp. rubroactina, Prunus avium subsp. sylvestris, Prunus cerasus subsp. avium, Cerasus anglica var. praecox, Cerasus avium var. albida, Cerasus avium var. amara, Cerasus avium var. aspleniifolia, Cerasus avium var. dulcis, Cerasus avium var. duracina, Cerasus avium var. erythrocarpa, Cerasus avium var. flava, Cerasus avium var. juliana

649,592 GBIF occurrences
63,444 iNaturalist observations

Conservation status code

Conservation: status label

Least Concern

Conservation: population trend

Stable

Conservation: year assessed

2017

IUCN Red List page

https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/172064/50673544

Habitats

IUCN: population narrative

There is no population information for this species but due to its wide native range and presence within cultivation it is assumed that population is stable.

IUCN: habitat narrative

This species is a fast growing tree, which can reach up to 30 m (Welk et al. 2016). It grows in humid deciduous woodland, dry forests, forest margins, shrubwoods, alongside gullies and rivers, as well as in humid areas with deep soil, mostly in mountainous areas.

IUCN: threats narrative

Even though this species is sometimes harvested from the wild, this is managed properly and the species can seed easily, so this is not considered to be a significant threat.

IUCN: conservation narrative

This species is found within at least 123 ex situ collections (BGCI 2017). The species is also reported tom EURISCO germplasm banks, including accessions from wild origin. Genesys Global Portal on Plant Genetic Resources (2017) reports 35 wild germplasm accessions from across the species range. It should be ensured that these ex situ collections are representative of the species entire native range and hold both European and non-European specimen. It occurs in protected areas. It is recommended that the monitoring and management of this species is incorporated into the existing management plans of these sites. Within Europe the species was assessed as Least Concern (Eliáš et al. 2010).

IUCN: rationale

Prunus avium is widely distributed throughout Europe, and also in North Africa and Western Asia. The population is thought to be stable. It currently does not face any major threats and is therefore assessed as Least Concern.

Prunus avium (L.) L.

Related species

Gallery