Types of Cherries: Sweet, Sour, Wild & Ornamental
Short answer: The two cherries you eat most are the sweet cherry (Prunus avium), dark and firm for eating fresh, and the sour or tart cherry (Prunus cerasus), sharper and used mainly for pies and preserves. Beyond those, several 'cherries' are wild or ornamental relatives: the chokecherry and bird cherry are astringent wild Prunus, the capuli is a South American wild cherry, and the cornelian cherry isn't a true cherry at all but a tart dogwood fruit.
| 🍒 Cherry | 🍒 Cornelian cherry | 🍒 Chokecherry | 🍒 Bird cherry | 🍒 Capulí | 🔴 Cherry plum | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taste | Sweet cherries are juicy, snappy, and winey-sweet (Rainiers add a honeyed, low-acid delicacy); sour cherries are bright, almond-scented, and made for sugar and heat rather than raw eating. | Sour cherry meets cranberry with a plummy, almost rosehip depth — mouth-puckering until dead-ripe, then honeyed-tart and addictive. | Sharply astringent and tart raw, drying the mouth; cooked with sugar it becomes deeply cherry-rich and winey, the base of syrups, jellies, and the traditional pudding wojapi. | Bittersweet and astringent with a distinct bitter-almond aroma; the small black cherries have thin flesh over a large stone, and the flavor is more prized dried and ground than eaten fresh. | Sweet with a mild tartness and a subtle bitter-almond note in the skin and around the pit; the dark red-black flesh is juicy and cherry-like, with a single stone. | Sweet-tart and juicy with a thin skin and soft, sometimes clingy stone; flavor ranges from bright and refreshing to richly sweet depending on color and ripeness. |
| Type | Stone fruit | Stone fruit | Stone fruit | Stone fruit | Stone fruit | Stone fruit |
| Peak season | Summer, Spring | Summer, Autumn | Summer, Autumn | Summer | Summer, Autumn | Summer |
| Origin | Black Sea and Caspian region (Anatolia to the Caucasus) | Southern Europe, Anatolia, and the Caucasus | Across North America | Northern Europe and northern Asia | The highlands of Mexico, Central America, and the Andes | The Balkans, the Caucasus, and Central Asia |
| Calories (per 100 g) | 63 | 55 | 55 | 60 | 60 | 46 |
| Sugar (per 100 g) | 12.8 g | 9 g | 8 g | 8 g | 11 g | 9 g |
| Vitamin C (per 100 g) | 7 mg | 50 mg | — | 15 mg | 20 mg | 9 mg |
| Fiber (per 100 g) | 2.1 g | 2.5 g | 3 g | 3 g | 2 g | 1.5 g |
| Potassium (per 100 g) | 222 mg | — | — | — | — | 190 mg |
| Typical price | Premium | Mid | Budget | Budget | Budget | Budget |
‘Cherry’ is a name shared by true stone fruits and a few look-alikes. The genuine cherries all belong to the genus Prunus, and split by taste and use.
The everyday cherries are two species. The sweet cherry (Prunus avium) is the dark, firm, sugary fruit sold for fresh eating. The sour or tart cherry (Prunus cerasus) is softer and much sharper - too sour for most people raw, but the classic choice for pies, jams, and juice.
Wild true cherries are smaller and more astringent. The chokecherry (Prunus virginiana) and the bird cherry (Prunus padus) are North American and Eurasian wild cherries whose tart, tannic fruit is cooked into jelly and syrup rather than eaten fresh. The capuli (Prunus serotina subsp. capuli) is a South American cherry, larger and sweeter than its wild kin, eaten fresh in the Andes.
Cherry look-alikes borrow the name without the lineage. The cornelian cherry (Cornus mas) is a dogwood fruit, not a Prunus - oblong, red, and tart, used for preserves and liqueurs. The cherry-plum (Prunus cerasifera) is a small round plum the size of a cherry, and the earliest plum to ripen each year.
The quick guide: dark and firm for eating fresh is a sweet cherry; soft and sharp for pies is a sour cherry; small and astringent from the wild is a chokecherry or bird cherry; oblong, red, and tart is the cornelian cherry, a dogwood in disguise.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between sweet and sour cherries?
Sweet cherries (Prunus avium) are larger, firmer, and sugary enough to eat raw - the dark Bing-type cherries in shops. Sour or tart cherries (Prunus cerasus) are softer and much sharper, grown mainly for pies, jams, and juice rather than fresh eating.
Is a cornelian cherry a real cherry?
No. The cornelian cherry (Cornus mas) is the fruit of a dogwood, not a Prunus. It looks like an oblong red cherry and tastes tart, like a cross between cranberry and sour cherry, and is used for preserves, syrups, and liqueurs across Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
Can you eat chokecherries and bird cherries raw?
Only cautiously. Chokecherries and bird cherries are wild Prunus with small, very astringent fruit and bitter stones; the flesh is edible when fully ripe and usually cooked into jelly or syrup, but the seeds contain compounds that release cyanide and should never be eaten.