Cherry

The miniature Chinese cherries are too sour to eat but can be made into preserves with honey. However the tree, its leaves, roots, branches, flowers, and pips being astringent are known to have cosmetic and medicinal properties.

The cherry tree has become the symbol for beauty; poets sing of it rich color of ruby and sapphire. The famous beauty, Fan Su, the concubine of the poet Po Chu-I, with her brilliant red lips comparable to that of the color of the cherry has become the well known emblem of the fair sex.