The cherry tree is among the oldest of all cultivated fruit trees, and it occurs naturally in Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It has since been planted in much of the temperate zones around the world. Interestingly, the common cherry is part of the rose family. The tree has long been revered for both the beauty of its blossoms and the deliciousness of its fruit, which has been cultivated since at least 300 BC.
The cherry tree was treasured around the Mediterranean and was a favorite fruit of the Greeks, Romans and Egyptians. Cherries were eaten as fruit, used in sauces for its sweetness when ripe and tartness when picked early, and was used in many dishes and even used to make cherry wine and other alcoholic beverages. In China, the cherry flower is a prominent cultural symbol, and in Japan, the flower has come to represent the Samurai class. In both China and Japan there are annual festivals that celebrate the cherry tree.
Certain fruits have strong fertility symbolism, and a deep red, ripe, juicy cherry is perhaps the most prominent example. The juice of a ripe cherry is both intensely flavored and strongly coloured and it has often been compared to the first taste of love. In appearance, cherries have long been said to resemble a lover's lips, and when you bite into a cherry, the fruit gives the appearance of bleeding. There has long been an erotic connection to the fruit of the cherry tree!
As a tattoo symbol, the cherry has come to represent feminine chastity and purity as the fruit ripens on the tree. Once plucked, however, a cherry represents the loss of innocence and virtue. A cherry tasted, its flesh pierced by appetite, is a virgin no more. A cherry surrounded in flames speaks of unquenchable desire, passion and lust.
See also: Cherry Blossom Tattoos, Love Tattoo Index and Tattoos for Girls
