GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post - Do cherries and plums cross-pollinate?

Stewart Robert Hinsley · 10-02-2017, 03:24 AM posted to uk.rec.gardening

On 09/02/2017 12:34, wrote:
Since plums and cherries are (I think) vaguely related, I wondered if the two can cross-pollinate each other...

Many thanks!
Al_w

Depends on what you mean by plums and cherries, and what you mean by
cross-pollinate.

On the one hand sand cherry (an American species) and Japanese plum have
hybridised. (They hybrids are called cherry plums, but these are not the
same as the cherry plum grown in Britain which is a plum species with a
small rounded fruit.) But there seems to be some question as to whether
sand cherries are botanically cherries or plums, or even whether cherry
and plum are botanically meaningful terms.

On the other hand Wikipedia tells me that sweet and sour cherries don't
even cross-pollinate with each other.

The genus Prunus can be divided into two parts - one part has the bird
cherries and cherry laurels and their relatives, the other the plums and
true cherries and almonds and apricots and peaches.

More googling finds references to hybrids of sweet cherry and Japanese
plum (called plerries or cherums), so it is would appear that
cross-pollination is possible. (But I haven't found any mention of the
European plum being crossed with cherries, as opposed to apricots or
peaches.) However I'd expect fruit set to be very low (unless the plants
were self-fertile).

--
SRH