Double Cherries {InstaScience}

We love fresh cherries in our house – a bag of them does not last very long between the four of us. But a recent chance pull of some double cherries led us to set down the bag and learn some science instead!

We guessed that these double wonders were products of a seed split or maybe some genetic mutation. So, we weren’t so keen to actually eat them.

But after a bit of research, we learned that these mutant twin cherries are produced when the tree is under stress, either due to high temps or low water early on in the growing season. The stressed-out tree will produce two seeds on one stem to conserve the number of nutrient pathways.

Pretty cool, huh? Now, we gobble down those double cherries at the same rate as the single ones!

Fun Fact – According to the AICR, the average American consumes 2 pounds of cherries each year!

LINKS TO RESEARCH

Want to learn more about cherries? Check out the following articles:

• Cherries can fight cancer.
• How plant and care for cherries.
• One of our favorite cherry crisp recipes!