Cherries

Cherries are tiny fruits that grow on trees. Most cherries are bright red, but some are yellow or almost black. They have a sweet or sour taste and a hard pit in the middle. Cherries grow in bunches and have long stems.

Sweet and Sour Cherries

There are two main kinds of cherries. Sweet cherries are great for eating fresh as a snack. Sour cherries are too tart to eat plain, so people use them in pies and jams. Bing cherries are one of the most popular sweet kinds. Montmorency cherries are a famous kind of sour cherry.

Cherry Blossoms

Before cherries grow, the trees are covered in beautiful pink and white flowers called cherry blossoms. These flowers are very famous in Japan, where people visit parks each spring to see them. Washington, D.C. also has many cherry blossom trees that were a gift from Japan. The blossoms only last for about two weeks.

Fun Facts

• It takes about 250 cherries to make one cherry pie.
• Cherries belong to the rose family of plants.
• Cherry pits have a hard shell but should not be eaten.

Did You Know?

The world record for spitting a cherry pit is more than 93 feet. That is almost as long as a basketball court.