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| ## black cherry {#black-cherry .Title-Header}                         |
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| *Prunus serotina* Ehrh. var. *rubula* (Woot. & Standl.) McVaugh       |
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| Plant Symbol = PRSER2                                                 |
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Contributed by: USDA NRCS National Plant Data Center & the Biota of
North America Program

### 

### Alternate Names 

Wild black cherry, mountain black cherry, rum cherry

### Uses

Black cherry wood is a rich reddish-brown color and is strong, hard, and
close-grained -- one of the most valued cabinet and furniture woods in
North America. It is also used for paneling, interior trim, veneers,
handles, crafts, toys, and scientific instruments. Black cherry is used
for reclamation of surface mine spoil.

The leaves, twigs, bark, and seeds produce a cyanogenic glycoside. Most
livestock poisoning apparently comes from eating wilted leaves, which
contain more of the toxin than fresh leaves, but white-tailed deer
browse seedlings and saplings without harm. The inner bark, where the
glycoside is concentrated, was used historically in the Appalachians as
a cough remedy, tonic, and sedative. The glycoside derivatives act by
quelling spasms in the smooth muscles lining bronchioles. Very large
amounts of black cherry pose the theoretical risk of causing cyanide
poisoning.

The fruit has been used to flavor rum and brandy ("cherry bounce").
Pitted fruits are edible and are eaten raw and used in wine and jelly.
Black cherry fruits are important food for numerous species of passerine
birds, game birds, and mammals, including the red fox, black bear,
raccoon, opossum, squirrels, and rabbits.

### Status

Please consult the PLANTS Web site and your State Department of Natural
Resources for this plant's current status, such as, state noxious status
and wetland indicator
values.![](media/image2.jpeg){width="2.598611111111111in"
height="1.7243055555555555in"}

### Description

*General*: Rose Family (Rosaceae). Native trees growing to 38 m tall;
bark of larger trunks fissured and scaly, but thin. Leaves are
alternate, simple, ovate to oblong-lanceolate, 5-15 cm long, 2.5-5 cm
wide, with finely toothed margins, glabrous or commonly with reddish
hairs along the midrib beneath, near the base. Inflorescence is an
oblong-cylindric raceme 10-15 cm long at the end of leafy twigs of the
season, with numerous flowers; calyx tube of short lobes, petals 5,
white. Fruits are berry-like, about 8-10 mm in diameter, obovoid, black
when ripe; seed a single, black, ovoid stone 6-8 mm long. The common
name is from the black color of the ripe fruits.

*Variation within the species*: The species has a number of geographic
variants:

Var. *eximia* (Small) Little - Edwards Plateau of central TX

Var. *rufula* (Woot. & Standl.) McVaugh - TX, NM, AZ

Var. *serotina* - widespread in the eastern US

Var. *virens* (Woot. & Standl.) McVaugh - TX, NM, AZ

Var. *salicifolia* Koehne - Mexico and Guatemala

Var. *serotina* may reach 38 meters tall in the eastern US, but
southwestern US varieties typically are smaller; southwestern black
cherry (var. *rufula*) seldom grows taller than 9 m, and escarpment
black cherry (var. *exima*) no taller than 15 meters. The leaves of var.
*serotina* are thin compared to those of the other varieties.
Domesticants and wild populations of *P. serotina* in Mexico and Central
America, called \"capulin\" (var. *salicifolia*), have larger (2 cm)
fruits, apparently through selection by native peoples. Plants
previously recognized as *P. serotina* var. *alabamensis* (Mohr) Little
have been taxonomically returned to species rank, as *P.* *alabamensis*
Mohr.

### Distribution

Widespread in eastern North America, from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick,
and Quebec, Canada, Minnesota and North Dakota, southward to Florida and
east Texas, with outlying populations in central Texas, west Texas, New
Mexico, and Arizona, and south in Mexico to Guatemala. Known to be
highly invasive in forests of Holland and other countries of Western
Europe; also naturalized in northern South America. For current
distribution, please consult the Plant Profile page for this species on
the PLANTS Web site.

### Adaptation 

Black cherry is a shade-intolerant species that primarily occurs in
successional vegetation or in forest openings as well as in old fields
and along fencerows. It usually occurs as scattered individuals in
various types of mesic woods and second-growth hardwood forests; at
elevations of 0-1520 meters. Black cherry in the southwestern US is
confined to canyons, valleys, and rich bottomlands. Flowering: May-July
(March-April in the Southwest); fruiting: June-October.

### Establishment

Seeds may be produced on trees as young as 10 years, but maximum
production in natural stands occurs on trees 30-100 years old. Some seed
is produced yearly, with good crops produced at 1-5-year intervals. High
proportions of the seeds are viable. Because of long-distance seed
dispersal by birds and mammals, seedlings are often abundant in sites
with no or few reproductive black cherry trees. Seeds that pass through
the digestive tracts of passerine birds also have higher germination
rates than undigested seeds.

Seeds from one crop germinate over a period of 3 years ---- this delayed
germination allows large numbers of seeds to be banked in the forest
floor. After cold stratification, seeds germinate in loose soil and
forest litter; germination is higher in litter than in mineral soil.
Seedlings typically grow to a height of 5-10 cm within 30 days after
germination.

Black cherry also reproduces by stump sprouts following cutting or fire,
and sprouting frequency remains high for trees up to about 60 years of
age.

Black cherry rarely occurs in the canopy of late successional deciduous
forests but buried seeds are present and an abundance of small seedlings
is common in the understory. These grow slowly in dense shade, sometimes
reaching 15 cm in height in 3-4 years, but any canopy opening will
release this bank of suppressed plants, which grow rapidly to overtop
shade-tolerant associates. Black cherry saplings in the understory may
repeatedly die back to the stem base and re-sprout and can persist for
40-60 years by maintaining a small above-ground size until released.
Because of its abundant soil-stored seeds and sprouting ability, black
cherry may dominate secondary succession following logging, fire, or
wind-throw. Trees have been reported to grow to more than 250 years,
although mortality increases rapidly after 80-100 years.

### Management

Black cherry is sometimes grown in even-aged management ----
clearcutting or shelterwood cuts are used, depending on the availability
of soil-stored seed. Where deer populations are high, successful
regeneration may require that larger seedlings be so abundant that deer
cannot eat them all. Because it is shallow-rooted and has a tendency to
overtop its associates in mixed stands, black cherry is susceptible to
wind throw. Best results in establishing black cherry on reclamation or
rehabilitation sites are by planting 1-year or older nursery grown
seedlings. Direct seeding has generally been unsuccessful.

The thin bark of black cherry makes it highly susceptible to girdling
and it is usually killed or top-killed by fires of moderate severity. As
fire severity increases, the percentage of tree-sized individuals killed
also increases. When aboveground portions are killed by fire, black
cherry sprouts prolifically from the root crown or stump. This
vegetative reproduction, however, depletes carbohydrate reserves and
leaves plants in a weakened condition. Quickly repeated fires would
probably kill any seedlings and saplings that survived the first fire by
resprouting.

### Pests and Potential Problems

The eastern tent caterpillar and the cherry scallop shell moth defoliate
black cherry and can cause growth loss and mortality. The fungal disease
"black knot" is common on black cherry -- it causes elongated, rough,
black swellings on the twigs, branches, and trunk.

### Cultivars, Improved and Selected Materials (and area of origin)

These plant materials are readily available from commercial sources.
Contact your local Natural Resources Conservation Service (formerly Soil
Conservation Service) office for more information. Look in the phone
book under "United States Government." The Natural Resources
Conservation Service will be listed under the subheading "Department of
Agriculture."

### References

Allard, H.A. 1944. *Second year sprouts of black cherry, Prunus
serotina, fruiting*. Castanea 9:117.

Carter, K.K. 1980. *Geographic variation in black cherry (Prunus
serotina Ehrh.)*. Ph.D. diss., West Virginia Univ., Morgantown, West
Virginia.

Downey, S.L., R. Karle, A.F. Iezzoni, J.F. Hancock, & B.K. Epperson
1998. *Patterns of genetic diversity within and among black cherry
(Prunus serotina Ehrh.) populations from the U.S., Mexico, and Ecuador*.
Abstract, 1998 Annual Meeting of the Bot. Soc. Amer., Baltimore,
Maryland.

\[http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/bsa-abst/section4/abstracts/11.shtml\]

McVaugh, R. 1951. *A revision of the North American black cherries
(Prunus serotina Ehrh. and relatives)*. Brittonia 7:279-315.

McVaugh, R. 1952. *Suggested phylogeny of Prunus serotina and other wide
ranging phylads in North America*. Brittonia 7:317-346.

Marquis, D.A. 1990. *Prunus serotina* Ehrh. Black Cherry. Pp. 594-604,
IN: R.M. Burns and B.H. Honkala. *Silvics of North America*. *Volume 2.*
*Hardwoods*. USDA, Forest Service Agric. Handbook 654, Washington, D.C.
\<http://willow.ncfes.umn.edu/silvics_manual/Table_of_contents.htm\>

Mulligan, G.A. & D.B. Munro 1981*. The biology of Canadian weeds, 51.
Prunus virginiana L. and P. serotina Ehrh*. Canad. J. Pl. Sci.
61:977-992.

Uchytil, R.J. 1991. *Prunus serotina*. IN: W.C. Fischer (compiler*). The
fire effects information system* \[Database\]. USDA, Forest Service,
Intermountain Research Station, Intermountain Fire Sciences Laboratory,
Missoula, Montana. \<http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/\>

### Prepared By

*Guy Nesom*

Formerly BONAP, North Carolina Botanical Garden, University of North
Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

### Species Coordinator

## *Gerald Guala*

USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Edited 04dec00 jsp; 13feb03 ahv; 060808 jsp

For more information about this and other plants, please contact your
local NRCS field office or Conservation District, and visit the PLANTS
Web site\<[http://plants.usda.gov](http://plants.usda.gov/)\> or the
Plant Materials Program Web site
\<[http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov](http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov/)\>

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