Cherry Fun Facts

How many cherry varieties are there? What’s the best cherries to use for baking? And did George Washington really cut down a cherry tree?

Find the answers to these questions and more with our list of fun facts about cherries!

Cherry Facts

First up - discover the essential cherry facts to improve your trivia. These bitesize facts are ideal to impress guests at the dinner table.

• While there are over 1,000 (yes, 1,000!) cherry varieties, they are categorized into two main types: sweet and tart. And, of these, only about 20% are used in commercial products.
• Sweet cherries are most commonly grown in California, Oregon, and Washington and Oregon while the tart varieties are mostly grown in Michigan and Wisconsin.
• Tart cherries are more often used in baking because they hold their shape better than their sweeter cousins and the tartness allows bakers to modify recipes for preferred level of sweetness.
• Cherries are also a major source of minerals like zinc, iron, potassium, and manganese.
• Cherry is a flowering plant that belongs to the family of roses (Rosaceae).
• There are about 100 whole cherries in an 8-ounce glass of cherry juice.
• The name ‘cherry’ also refers to the cherry tree and its wood.
• On average, there are about 44 cherries in one pound.

Interesting Facts About Cherries

Next time one of your friends mentions cherries in a conversation, be sure to wow them with one of our interesting facts about cherries in pop culture and history.

• George Washington never really cut down a cherry tree. This myth was written by Mason Locke Weems in a biography of President Washington as a way to illustrate his integrity and honesty. So, it seems that Washington never cut down that cherry tree in his father’s yard…honestly!
• Cherries are believed to have been around since the Stone Age! Archaeologists have discovered fossilized cherry pits in prehistoric caves throughout Europe and Asia.
• Cherries plantings are believed to have spread through Europe thanks to Roman soldiers.
• Cherries were ration to Roman soldier and, as they traversed the land, their discarded pits germinated into trees While several varieties were already present in North America, including black cherries, many other cherry varieties first made their way to the United States with Europeans settling the land in the 1600s.
• Bing cherries are not named for popular films star, Bing Crosby. Rather, they are named after an orchard foreman who helped develop the delicious red varietal.
• The world record for cherry pit spitting is said to close to 100 feet!
• Canada holds the record for baking the biggest cherry pie in the world.

Cherry Tree Facts

After seeing how many facts there are about cherries, surely it will come as no surprise to find out that cherry trees too have their own list of impressive trivia...

• Japanese cherry blossom trees don’t produce fruit and, instead, are mostly ornamental. A typical cherry tree produces 7000 cherries.
• A cherry tree can grow 33 feet in height!
• The cherry tree develops beautiful white flowers during the spring.
• Cherry production starts 3 to 4 years after planting A cherry tree can survive and produce fruit for around 100 years.