1. A popular edible fruit [Milltown, Co. Kerry, August 2009].

2. My mother, born 1901, definitely considered it unlucky to bring hawthorn into the house … My mother was also uneasy about gean blossom, wild cherry, in the house. I belong to Galloway, southwest Scotland [Broughton Ferry, Dundee, February 1998].

3.  My information comes from a geographical region stretching from Yorkshire to Midlothian …  Cherry blossom, in particular wild cherry – gean flower – is an unlucky decoration for a wedding.  The only time I heard this, dark mutterings behind handbags, the bridegroom turned out to be impotent [Old Cleeve, Somerset, October 1993].

Images: Tooting Common, London Borough of Wandsworth; March and June 2014.