Montmorency
In vast stretches of Door County, Wisconsin, and in northeast Michigan, orchards of Montmorency cherries cover the countryside. This is the commercial production area of the chief sour cherry grown in the United States. A century ago production was not so geographically concentrated. Hundreds of thousands of sour cherry trees grew in Iowa and other parts of the upper Midwest. Furthermore, the types of sour cherry frown were more diverse.
Growers of the early 20th century divided sour cherries into four groups:
Montmorency Group (this included the Montmorency, Early Richmond, Duchess d’Anjoulene and Dyehouse Cherries) had colorless juice, yellow flesh, and a light reddish tinge on the fruit. The trees were ready growers with strong branches, and thick serated leaves.
Morello Group (all derived from the old English Morello sour cherry such as the Baldwin, Ostheim, Wragg and Wheeler) dark colored fruit with dark flesh, colored juice. Small trees with slender branches. Smallish serated leaves.
Brusseler Braune Group (German and Russian varieties such as the Bessarabian, Griotte du Nord) dark colored fruit with dark red flesh, highly colored juice. Trees grow large and upright with round tops.
Vladimir Group (Russian varieties such as he Lithauer Weichsel, Shubianka) dark colored fruit and flesh on compact willowy branches.
Trees of all of these varieties were grown on one of two imported stocks: the Mahaleb or the Mazzard, both of which were reasonably cold tolerant.
In 2021 the sour cherries have reduced to two groups—Amarelle (Montmorency) and Morello-- with the Brusseler Braune and Vladimir Cherries disappearing from commercial production and maintained only as specimen trees or breeding stock.
The Montmorency Cherry is thought to have arisen from a natural cross between a sweet cherry and a bush cherry in the vicinity of the Adriatic Sea. The long stem version of the Montmorency has been in cultivation in Europe for 500 years. Its virtues include being self-pollinating, resistance to viral leaf spot, and sturdy trees. It is softer than a Morello and less shippable, but dries well, cans well, and generates sprightly juice. Its chemistry has long attracted interest, since it is high in Melatonin (hence an anti-insomnia food). The juice is full of antioxidants and the Montmorency juice/concentrate producers have touted its value as a natural restorative, performing the same work after exercise of Gatorade. But its longer lasting value may be as a agent in combating metabolic disorders: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-04-montmorency-cherries-aid-cardio-metabolic-disease.html
Breeders have worked to boost the productivity of Montmorency trees. As fruit, the Montmorency Cherry will remain somewhat at a disadvantage as fresh produce to the Morello or the firm Hungarian Balaton that Dr. Amy Iezzoni has promoted. But as a processed cherry—dried, canned, or juiced it will continue as a commodity fruit—the first choice for cherry pie and a reliable basis for jams and jellies.
Illustration: Mary Arnold, “Montmorency” 1912 "U.S. Department of Agriculture Pomological Watercolor Collection. Rare and Special Collections, National Agricultural Library, Beltsville, MD 20705"
Photograph: “Cherry Pickers,” Courtesy of the Door County Historical Society