Mahaleb Cherry

Tella: Pirineo aragonsEspaaFamilia: ROSACEAEDistribucin: N de Africa (Marruecos), W de Asia y C y S de Europa; mitad N y E de la Pennsula Ibrica; en Aragn por todo el Pirineo (Prepirineo y desciende hasta Monzn) y todo el Sistema Ibrico Hbitat: En claros y orlas de carrascal, quejigal y pinar, matorrales de boj y avellano en ambiente de bosque mixto, depsitos morrnicos, graveras fluviales, barrancos, y al pie de acantilados. No suele faltar en las "foces" pirenaicas, prepirenaicas y del Sistema Ibrico, junto a la encina, durillo, madreselva y madroo, en ambiente muy protegido de las heladas tardas.Preferencia edfica: Basfila. Basfila Calccola. Calccola preferente pero aparece algunas veces en areniscas, pizarras y cuarcitas.Rango altitudinal: ( 265 ) 600- 1500 ( 1920 ) mFloracin: Abril - JunioFructificacin: Junio - Julio ( Agosto )Forma Biolgica: FanerfitoExtractado del Atlas de la Flora de Aragn (Herbario de Jaca)

2011-05-07 Burgenland, district Mattersburg (Kogelberg, 250 msm Quadrant 8264/4).German name: SteinweichselStem during harvesting season: thicker branches will be harvested in the fourth year, and the other ones in the year to follow.See remarks here about cultivation.

2011-05-07 Burgenland, district Mattersburg (Kogelberg, 245 msm Quadrant 8264/4).German name: SteinweichselMany thanks to Georg Schramayr and a local farmer (possibly the last one in the entire region) for presenting this cultivar and its cultivation on excursion:The fruit of Prunus mahaleb are inedible (they also contain plenty of Cumarin - which gives both leaves and wood of the tree a strong, distinctive smell; which gets even stronger if you put some twigs into a bag and let it wither for a while); they're cultivated for wooden sticks (yes indeed!).The method of cultivation has been developed and perfected right here in Austria - in Eastern Lower Austria and Burgenland: trees are cut shortly above ground so that they will develop new shoots; of those, only a very few will be kept, the rest is pruned - which has the purpose of getting fewer, but stronger and straighter growth. These shoots will be pruned constantly to avoid branching (the process is called 'iachsn' in dialect, which means nothing but removing off-shoots), which is arduous work especially in the first but also in the second work (both because off-shoots need to be removed and because soil needs to be hoed), but which becomes fairly easy in the years to follow.In the foreground you can see stems of first and second year's growth with fresh shoots, and in the background third and fourth (and fifth) year's shoots; shoots will be harvested when they've grown to sticks of a length which could be made either into walking canes or smoking pipes.Both canes and pipes have come out of fashion, and for this reason those sticks are in low demand now - but relatively well priced still.While cultivation of Prunus mahaleb flourished for a good two centuries (and a decade or two ago most farmers in this region still had a plantation) it is foreseeable that their cultivation will cease in the near future; the farmer we visited already remarked that none of his children (or grandchildren for that matter) is willing to continue his work.

2011-05-07 Burgenland, district Mattersburg (Kogelberg, 222 msm Quadrant 8264/4).German name: SteinweichselWild occurrence, no cultivar.For cultivation see here.Many thanks to Georg Schramayr for introducing this species:This branch shows a characteristic feature of growth of Prunus mahaleb: of a year's new growth, there will be only short branches at the beginning, only at the end of a year's new growth side-branches will grow longer. This gives them a peculiar kind of T-shape, and if you know what to look for you can recognise this species even from a long distance - while if you don't you could even mistake the leaves for some pear.This feature is particularly well-developed on parts of the tree exposed to full sun; in more shady places it is less developed as there even the 'younger' side-branches have a tendency of growing longer (towards the light).Possibly this peculiarity is also a reason why they're cultivated for wooden sticks (I should have asked Georg Schramayr then and there, but didn't think of it then); however, the main reason seems to be that Prunus mahaleb is strong in Cumarin which is poisonous (and products from this tree even are prohibited for sale in some countries!), but considered aromatic in small doses.

2011-05-07 Burgenland, district Mattersburg (Kogelberg, 245 msm Quadrant 8264/4).German name: SteinweichselWild growth at the fence which the farmer left, and cut higher up (because of the fence): ususally, Prunus mahaleb will be cut fairly low on the stem because it is more convenient in the third and fourth year of cultivation even though you've got to stoop in the first year to reach the branches - here, on the fence, they're convenient for working in the first and second year but after that you can't easily reach up to the top.See remarks here about cultivation.

2011-05-07 Burgenland, district Mattersburg (Kogelberg, 245 msm Quadrant 8264/4).German name: SteinweichselStem after the cycle begins anew, after growth has been cut and new growth emerges.See remarks here about cultivation.

Prunus mahaleb L. Non-native, becoming naturalized in our area.May 13, 2011, Wasatch foothills, Olympus trailhead area, approx. 4780 ft. elev.