We often read of ‘cherry-red’ so I found it refreshing to find cherries described as resembling the red of cornelian, a semi-precious gemstone which seems to encompass the same colour spectrum as different varieties of cherries.

From Miklos Banffy’s superb Transylvanian Trilogy of novels charting with the precision of personal experience the self-induced decline of the Hungarian aristocracy in the 19th century.

‘In the clearings between the trees cornelian-coloured cherries were in bloom and the hazel bushes were tasselled with catkins.’

Source: Miklos Banffy, They Were Found Wanting, trans. Patrick Thursfield and Katalin Banffy-Jelen (London: Arcadia Books, 2011 (1937)), p. 44