Apparently, it’s not in human nature to “wait for favors from nature,” but to create varieties and species of plants with attractive properties independently, artificially. The appearance of hybrids is proof of this.
What is a hybrid?
The term "hybrid" in botany refers to an organism obtained by crossing different forms. As a result, the genetic material of different cells is combined into a single one.
Of course, there are cases of natural hybridization: for example, grapefruit is the result of natural crosses between pomelo and orange, but in the vast majority of cases this is a carefully controlled process. The hybrid of cherry and bird cherry, mandarin and orange, peach and nectarine, plum and apricot - all these are the results of many years of painstaking work of biologists.
The purpose of obtaining hybrids in botany
The desire of breeders for experiments on the cultivation of hybrids of various fruit plants is explained by the desire to improve their initial characteristics: productivity, resistance to pests and resistance to diseases, frost resistance, as well as to obtain new taste, improve appearance or improve transportability.
Cherry Hybrids
Cherry is a popular plant, so breeders could not get around it. Several successful hybrids of cherries are known. First, cherries can be crossed with cherries. The hybrid is called duke and has increased winter hardiness and resistance to certain diseases, as well as sweeter fruits than cherries. A hybrid of cherry with cherry plum is very beautiful during flowering, tolerates frosts and does not require careful care. There is also a hybrid of cherries and plums, the fruits of which have a unique double taste. Finally, the works of breeders on crossing cherries with Japanese cherry Maak can be called successful. We will dwell on this hybrid in more detail.
Padocerus or cerapadus?
A hybrid of cherry and bird cherry is not very widely known. As a rule, beginning gardeners did not hear anything about him. However, by crossing these plants, you can get as many as two interspecific hybrids: padocerus and cerapadus. These names may seem somewhat sophisticated and worthy of dinosaurs rather than fruit trees, but in fact everything is simple and logical: they are formed from the Latin names for cherry (Cerasus) and bird cherry (Padus). Figuratively speaking, cerapadus is a hybrid of cherry and bird cherry, whose mother has cherry and dad is bird cherry. This option turned out to be more successful and found more distribution in gardening. If the flowers of bird cherry are pollinated by the pollen of cherry, then you will get padocerus.
I must say that for crossing with cherries only Japanese cherry Maak is suitable, combining the signs of both bird cherry and cherry, but with bitter fruits. In some sources, it is now referred to as cherry, although it would be more fair to say that it occupies a certain intermediate position between these species.
Features of the hybrid: appearance and properties
A hybrid of cherry and bird cherry, the photo of which is presented in the article, is more like a bird cherry, and its fruits are arranged on a tree with tassels: several pieces on one stalk, and not singly or in pairs, as is the case with cherries. The berries are dark, almost black, juicy, tastes from sour-bitter to sour-sweet. Outwardly, the fruits of cerepus resemble cherry to a greater extent.
Initially, as a result of selection in the 20s of the last century, Michurin obtained 3 types of cerapadus: No. 1 (from steppe cherries and Maak cherry), large cerapadus (Ideal cherries were used) and sweet cerapadus. The fruits of cerapadus No. 1 were not only bitter, but also poisonous, as they contained hydrocyanic acid.
A hybrid of cherry and bird cherry even now, after many years of work by breeders, has fruits that are not distinguished by a special sweetness. It is interesting that the more frost-resistant ceparadus possess, the more bitter their berries.
Re-crossing of cerapaduses with cherries led to the emergence of popular varieties. For example, the varieties of cerapadus Dolgazhdannaya and Novella have fruits with a completely “cherry” taste and size, the Pedinstitutskaya variety is distinguished by large brushes of berries, and Rusinka has especially high winter hardiness and fruits that are quite suitable for fresh consumption. Most often, the crop of cerapaduses has a technical purpose and is used for juices and syrups.
The value of cerapaduses
A hybrid of cherry and bird cherry is appreciated for the fact that it really has high resistance to frost and has a very well-developed root system. Another important property - the resistance of cerapadus to diseases - was remembered in the 60s of the last century, when coccomycosis fell on cherry orchards - a disease in which leaves begin to turn yellow and fall already in the early summer, and the trees themselves weaken and do not survive in winter. In this case, cerapaduses are successfully used as a stock for seedlings of varietal cherries, simultaneously significantly increasing their frost resistance.
Note: the stock is the plant to which the stalk with the bud of the variety gardener of interest is grafted. The stock plays a very important role: it provides proper nutrition of the upper part of the plant, i.e., the scion.
Care and reproduction
As for care, cerapaduses are very unpretentious, can grow anywhere and on any soil, do not require special attention, including treatment with fungicides. Leaving is reduced to pruning, forming a bush or crown of a tree, and weeding the trunk circle. Regular top dressing is also optional.
Cerapadus propagate, as befits hybrids, exclusively by cuttings, in order to avoid the splitting of acquired characters.
A hybrid of bird cherry and cherry: useful properties
Cherry fruits have a very rich composition: vitamins A, C, E and group B, organic acids, micro and macro elements. In folk medicine, cherries are used as an expectorant, antipyretic, antiviral and bactericidal agent, as well as for the prevention of heart disease. Cherry juice lowers blood coagulation and increases hemoglobin.
The fruits of bird cherry due to the high content of tannins are very effective as a fixing agent, while normalizing the intestines and improving the condition of the walls of the stomach. Bird cherry is used as an anti-inflammatory agent. Bird cherry Maak is generally extremely rich in biologically active substances.
It is impossible to say for sure whether cerapadus inherited absolutely all the beneficial properties of both its “parents”, but it is reliably known that the decoction of its berries has a pronounced antipyretic effect, and the fruits themselves have a rich chemical composition.
A hybrid of bird cherry and cherry: recipes in cooking
The fruits of cerapadus are a storehouse of vitamins, so even those who are not good at cooking can always just freeze the berries so that in winter they can be used for compote or fruit drink. In general, if the question arises of what to cook from a hybrid of bird cherry and cherry, it’s enough to adopt any traditional recipe in which his “parents” appear. Thus, you can cook jam, make tinctures and liquors, and you can use these sour berries as a filling for pies and pancakes.