Prunus mahaleb

Prunus mahaleb - mahaleb or St. Lucie cherry

The Mahaleb cherry is native to Europe and the Near-East. It has long been in cultivation all over the world and much used in grafting, for example as root stock for the sour cherry, Prunus cerasus. Particularly in North America, it is used as hedging and its seeds have been spread into the wild by birds, which has also happened on the island of Stora Karlsö, in Sweden’s Gothland. The fruit is also used industrially, the skins smelling aromatically of coumarin.