Abstract:

‘Lijing’is a newly developed，middle-early maturing sweet cherry cultivar with an open，moderate to weak growth habit，which was bred from the offspring of seeds obtained from market sweet cherries，with unknown parents. The fruit is oblate in shape，weighing 8–10 g per fruit，with a soluble solids content of 18%–20%. It is blush type sweet cherry and has medium firmness. The cultivar is known for its good flavor，extremely low rate of fruit doubling，high temperature resistance and high yield potential. In Shanghai，under protected cultivation，it matures in mid-May and requires approximately 500 chilling hours. It is particularly suitable for early production in suburban regions of Southern China，as well as in protected facilities in Northern China. The yield could be up to 10 500–13 500 kg · hm^-2 in the 5th year，with good stability.

Key words: sweet cherry, middle-early maturing, cultivar, low chilling