Cornelian Cherry

Cornelian Cherry (Cornus mas) has a centuries long cultivation history in southeastern Europe and western Asia as a fruit tree. Today it is grown as a commercial fruit crop in Ukraine, Serbia, Turkey, Georgia and Iran. Ripe fruits are often processed into juice or preserves. The juice is sometimes fermented into wine. The unripe fruit can be pickled in vinegar to make a product similar in taste and appearance to preserved olives. The ripe fruit is high in vitamin C as well as a range of phytochemicals, these have attributes have drawn the interest of researchers to this lesser known fruit in last last decade.

In the United States C. mas is grown as a small ornamental tree which reaches 10' tall and 10' wide. Aside from the fruit, its chief selling point are the profusion of bright yellow blooms in early spring. In Connecticut, it blooms 1-2 weeks before Forsythia. Trees are easy to grow and can be planted in full sun or part shade.