Napoleon
A large pale-yellow cherry flushed red, and the one traditional self-sterile cultivar recorded here — it is what makes the S-allele mechanism visible rather than theoretical. Known as Royal Ann in America.
A cultivar of Cherry. Everything on this page is about the cultivar; how to grow the species is on the plant page, and how big the tree gets is on the rootstock page.
Names and origin
- Also sold as
- Napoleon Bigarreau, Royal Ann
Pollination
What this cultivar needs before it will set a crop.
- Self-fertility
- Needs a pollination partner
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Cherry pollination
Checked 2026-08-13
- Partner
- A compatible partner is required
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Cherry pollination
Checked 2026-08-13
- Ploidy
- diploid
source
Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence
- NIAB — National Institute of Agricultural Botany: Cultivar ploidy records
Checked 2026-08-13
- S-allele group
- III
source
Sourced guidancemoderate confidence
- WSU Extension — Washington State University: Sweet cherry pollination — S-alleles
Checked 2026-08-13
- Partners needed
- one
What that means in practice
Self-sterile and governed by S-alleles: it needs a partner from a different incompatibility group, or a self-fertile cultivar such as Stella. Two cherries from the same group will not set fruit on each other however well they flower together.
Partners for Napoleon, from the 7 cherry cultivars GrowingHQ holds
Computed by the pollination engine from the flowering groups, ploidy and recorded pairings on each record — not a hand-written list. The scope is exactly what the heading says: these are the answers that exist in this catalogue, not the answers that exist.
| Cultivar | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Lapins | compatible | Lapins is self-fertile and pollinates every other sweet cherry — its pollen is rejected by none of the S-allele groups. It will set Napoleon. |
| Stella | compatible | Stella is self-fertile and pollinates every other sweet cherry — its pollen is rejected by none of the S-allele groups. It will set Napoleon. |
| Summer Sun | compatible | Summer Sun is self-fertile and pollinates every other sweet cherry — its pollen is rejected by none of the S-allele groups. It will set Napoleon. |
| Sunburst | compatible | Sunburst is self-fertile and pollinates every other sweet cherry — its pollen is rejected by none of the S-allele groups. It will set Napoleon. |
2 further cultivars return no verdict, because a flowering group or an incompatibility group is not recorded on one side. The engine reports that rather than assuming a value: Merton Glory, Morello.
The fruit
- Season
- Late
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Cherry cultivars — season
Checked 2026-08-13
- Use
- Eating, Preserving
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Cherry cultivars — use
Checked 2026-08-13
- Keeping
- Eat within days
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Cherry cultivars — storage
Checked 2026-08-13
The plant
- Vigour
- More vigorous than average
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Cherry cultivars — vigour
Checked 2026-08-13
- Habit
- Spreading
source
Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Cherry cultivars — habit
Checked 2026-08-13
- Cropping
- Crops regularly
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Cherry cultivars — cropping
Checked 2026-08-13
On each rootstock
The size of the tree comes from the rootstock. What the cultivar contributes is a direction, in words — GrowingHQ does not multiply the range by a vigour factor, because no source supports the multiplier and the resulting number would look far more precise than the inputs are.
| Rootstock | Height | With this cultivar |
|---|---|---|
| Gisela 5 | 250–350 cmsourceSourced guidancehigh confidence
Checked 2026-08-13 | Napoleon is a vigorous cultivar, so expect the upper end of this rootstock's range — though a dwarfing rootstock still keeps the tree small. |
| Colt | 400–500 cmsourceSourced guidancehigh confidence
Checked 2026-08-13 | Napoleon is a vigorous cultivar, so expect the upper end of this range or beyond. |
Full profiles for each of these are on the rootstock page.
Cultivar record reviewed 2026-08-13.