Pink Pearl

Introduced by T.V. Morozov from the I.V. Michurin Institute of Horticulture from seed of the cherry variety 'Leningrad Yellow', treated at the germination stage with the chemical mutagen NM in a concentration of 0.005%. Under state variety testing since 1995.

Tree of medium height, fast-growing, with a rounded-oval, raised crown. Fruit set mainly on cluster branches and partially on one-year shoots. Bark on the trunk and scaffold branches is brown and peeling. Shoots are thick, straight, bare, gray-green, with a small amount of small tubercles. Buds are egg-shaped, pointed, above average, strongly deviated from the shoot. Leaf is large, narrowly oval, with double-toothed margins, smooth surface, dark green, shiny, without hairs. Petiole is long, medium-thick, with two large yellow glands on the leaf petiole, with anthocyanic coloration at the base of the petiole. Stipules absent. Flowers are large, white, rose-like. Petal shape is round. Flowering period is medium. Stigma of the pistil is higher at the base relative to the stamens.

Fruits above average or large (mass 5.5-6.5 g), round, with rounded apex and indentation at the base. No ventral suture. Fruits are orange-pink with red blush. No covering dots. Flesh is orange-pink, juice light-red. Pit cavity is single-colored, pink, medium density, tender, juicy. Flavor is sweet. Pit separates easily from flesh, medium-sized, round. Transportability is weak.

Fruits ripen in mid-season. Harvesting maturity in Michurinsk occurs in the first decade of July. Fruit production begins on the 5th-6th year. Yield is regular, 80-137 centners per hectare. Variety is self-sterile. Possible pollinators: Michurinka, Michurinskaya Pozhnya. Variety is winter-hardy, drought-resistant, highly resistant to coccomycosis and other fungal diseases. Propagation by budding onto seedlings of cultivated cherry varieties and clonal rootstocks from Vladimir region.

Advantages of the variety: high winter hardiness of flower buds, excellent taste qualities of fruits and attractive appearance.

Disadvantages: insufficient winter hardiness of the tree under Michurinsk conditions. Adopted for State Testing in 1994.