Specimen record

Black Cherry

Prunus serotina

Description

The largest native cherry tree in North America, black cherry produces drooping clusters of small white flowers in May followed by dark red-black fruit in midsummer. The fruit is an important food source for birds and other wildlife. The bark of mature trees is distinctive — dark, scaly plates with upturned edges, often described as 'burnt potato chips.' All parts of the plant except the ripe fruit flesh contain cyanogenic glycosides.

Identification tips

• 1Elongated drooping racemes of small white flowers (not flat clusters like chokecherry)
• 2Dark reddish-black bark in mature trees with scaly plates with upturned edges
• 3Leaves alternate, finely serrated, with a glossy dark green upper surface
• 4One or two small reddish glands on the leaf stalk (petiole) near the blade base
• 5Crushed bark and leaves have a bitter almond smell (cyanide compounds)