Black Cherry, An Important North American Tree

Black Cherry, An Important North American Tree The black  cherry or Prunus serotina is a species in the subgenus Padus with beautiful flower  clusters, each separate flower attached by short equal stalks and called  racemes. All cherries in the landscape or forest share this floral design and often used as  specimens in yards and parks. All true cherries are deciduous trees and shed their leaves before winter dormancy. Prunus serotina,  also commonly called wild black cherry, rum cherry, or mountain black cherry, is a woody plant species belonging to the genus Prunus. This cherry is native to eastern North America from southern Quebec and Ontario south to Texas and central Florida, with disjunct populations in Arizona and New Mexico, and in the mountains of Mexico and Guatemala. This North American native tree usually grows to  60 but can grow as tall as 145 feet on exceptional sites. The bark of young trees are smooth but become fissured and scaly as the trees trunk enlarges with age. The leaves are alternate in rank, simple in shape, and narrowly oval, 4 inches long with finely toothed margins. Leaf texture is glabrous (smooth) and commonly with reddish hairs along the midrib beneath and near the base (see leaf anatomy). The Cherrys Beautiful Flowers and Fruit The flowers inflorescence (meaning  the complete flower head of a plant including stems, stalks, bracts, and flowers)  is very attractive. This  flower head is five inches long at the end of leafy twigs of the Spring season, with numerous 1/3 white flowers with five petals. The fruits are berry-like, about 3/4 in diameter, and turn black purple when ripe. The actual seed in the berry is a single, black, ovoid stone. The common name black cherry is derived  from the black color of the ripe fruits.   Dark Side of a Black Cherry The leaves, twigs, bark  and seeds of black cherry produce  a chemical called cyanogenic glycoside.  Hydrogen cyanide is released when the living parts of plant material are chewed and eaten and are toxic to both human and animal. It has a very repulsive taste and that taste is one of the identifying factors of the tree. Most poisoning comes from livestock eating wilted leaves, which contain more of the toxin than fresh leaves but with a diminishing of the bad taste. Interestingly enough, white-tailed deer browse seedlings and saplings without harm. The inner bark has highly concentrated forms of the chemical but was actually used ethnobotanically in much of the Appalachian states as a cough remedy, tonic, and sedative. The glycoside seems to reduce spasms in the smooth muscles lining bronchioles. Still, very large amounts of black cherry pose the theoretical risk of causing cyanide poisoning.   Ã‚   Dormant Identification of Black Cherry The tree has narrow corky and light, horizontal lenticels. Lenticels in black cherry are one of many vertically raised pores in the stem of a woody plant that allows gas exchange between the atmosphere and the internal tissues  on the bark of a young tree. The cherry bark breaks into thin dark plates and raised edges on older wood are described as burnt cornflakes. You can safely taste the twig that has what has been described as a bitter almond taste. The cherry bark is dark grey but can be both smooth and scaly with reddish-brown inner bark. The Most Common North American Hardwood List ash:  Genus  Fraxinus  basswood:  Genus  Tilia  birch:  Genus  Betula  black cherry:  Genus  Prunus  black walnut/butternut:  Genus  Juglans  cottonwood:  Genus  Populus  elm: Genus  Ulmus  hackberry:  Genus  Celtis  hickory:  Genus  Carya  holly:  Genus  IIex  locust: Genus  Robinia  and  Gleditsia  magnolia:  Genus  Magnolia  maple:  Genus  Acer  oak:  Genus  Quercus  poplar:  Genus  Populus  red alder:  Genus  Alnus  royal paulownia:  Genus  Paulownia  sassafras:  Genus  Sassafras  sweetgum:  Genus  Liquidambar  sycamore:  Genus  Platanus  tupelo: Genus  Nyssa  willow:Genus  Salix  yellow-poplar:  Genus  Liriodendron