''Prunus serotina'', commonly called black cherry,
World Economic Plants: A Standard Reference, Second Edition
'. CRC Press; 19 April 2016. . p. 833–. wild black cherry, rum cherry, or mountain black cherry, is a

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

tree or shrub in the rose family

Rosaceae Rosaceae (), the rose family, is a family of flowering plants that includes 4,828 known species in 91 genera. The name is derived from the type genus '' Rosa''. The family includes herbs, shrubs, and trees. Most species are deciduous, but som ...

. Despite its common names, it is not very closely related to commonly cultivated

cherries A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The name ...

. It is found in the Americas.

Description

''Prunus serotina'' is a medium-sized, fast-growing forest tree growing to a height of . The

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

are long, ovate-lanceolate in shape, with finely toothed margins. Fall leaf color is yellow to red. Flowers are small, white and 5-petalled, in racemes long which contain several dozen flowers. The flowers give rise to reddish-black "berries" (

drupes In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is a type of fruit in which an outer fleshy part ( exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pip'' (UK), ''pit'' (US), ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a s ...

) fed on by birds, in diameter. For about its first decade the

bark Bark may refer to: Common meanings * Bark (botany), an outer layer of a woody plant such as a tree or stick * Bark (sound), a vocalization of some animals (which is commonly the dog) Arts and entertainment * ''Bark'' (Jefferson Airplane album), ...

of a black cherry tree is thin, smooth, and banded, resembling a

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 3 ...

. A mature tree has very broken, dark gray to black bark. The leaves are long and shiny, resembling a sourwood's. An almond-like odour is released when a young twig is scratched and held close to the nose, revealing minute amounts of

cyanide In chemistry, cyanide () is an inorganic chemical compound that contains a functional group. This group, known as the cyano group, consists of a carbon atom triple-bonded to a nitrogen atom. Ionic cyanides contain the cyanide anion . This a ...

compounds produced and stored by the plant as a defense mechanism against

herbivore A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically evolved to feed on plants, especially upon vascular tissues such as foliage, fruits or seeds, as the main component of its diet. These more broadly also encompass animals that eat ...

Biochemistry

apricot An apricot (, ) is a fruit, or the tree that bears the fruit, of several species in the genus ''Prunus''. Usually an apricot is from the species '' P. armeniaca'', but the fruits of the other species in ''Prunus'' sect. ''Armeniaca'' are also ...

s and apples, the seeds of black cherries contain

cyanogenic glycoside In chemistry, a glycoside is a molecule in which a sugar is bound to another functional group via a glycosidic bond. Glycosides play numerous important roles in living organisms. Many plants store chemicals in the form of inactive glycosides. ...

s (compounds that can be converted into

), such as

amygdalin Amygdalin (from Ancient Greek: ' 'almond') is a naturally occurring chemical compound found in many plants, most notably in the seeds (kernels, pips or stones) of apricots, bitter almonds, apples, peaches, cherries and plums, and in the roots ...

. These compounds release

hydrogen cyanide Hydrogen cyanide (formerly known as prussic acid) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula, formula HCN and structural formula . It is a highly toxic and flammable liquid that boiling, boils slightly above room temperature, at . HCN is ...

when the seed is ground or minced, which releases enzymes that break down the compounds. These enzymes include

amygdalin beta-glucosidase The enzyme amygdalin β-glucosidase () catalyzes the following chemical reaction: : (''R'')-amygdalin + H2O \rightleftharpoons (''R'')-prunasin + D-glucose Thus, the two substrates of this enzyme are (''R'')-amygdalin and H2O, whereas its two ...

prunasin beta-glucosidase In enzymology, a prunasin β-glucosidase () is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction :(''R'')-prunasin + H2O \rightleftharpoons D-glucose + mandelonitrile It belongs to the family of hydrolases, specifically those glycosidases that hydro ...

and

mandelonitrile lyase The enzyme (''R'')-mandelonitrile lyase (, ''(R)-HNL'', ''(R)-oxynitrilase'', ''(R)-hydroxynitrile lyase'') catalyzes the chemical reaction :mandelonitrile \rightleftharpoons hydrogen cyanide + benzaldehyde This enzyme belongs to the family of ...

. In contrast, although the flesh of black cherries also contains these glycosides, it does not contain the enzymes needed to convert them to cyanide, so the flesh is safe to eat. The foliage, particularly when wilted, also contains cyanogenic glycosides, which convert to hydrogen cyanide if eaten by animals. Farmers are recommended to remove any trees that fall in a field containing livestock, because the wilted leaves could poison the animals. Removal is not always practical, though, because these trees often grow in very large numbers on farms, taking advantage of the light brought about by mowing and grazing. Entire

fencerow In agriculture, fences are used to keep animals in or out of an area. They can be made from a wide variety of materials, depending on terrain, location and animals to be confined. Most agricultural fencing averages about high, and in some places ...

s can be lined with this poisonous tree, making it difficult to monitor all the branches falling into the grazing area. Black cherry is a leading cause of livestock illness, and grazing animals' access to it should be limited.

Similar species

Black cherry is closely related to the chokecherry (''

Prunus virginiana ''Prunus virginiana'', commonly called bitter-berry, chokecherry, Virginia bird cherry, and western chokecherry (also black chokecherry for ''P. virginiana'' var. ''demissa''), is a species of bird cherry (Prunus subg. Padus, ''Prunus'' sub ...

''), which tends to be shorter (a shrub or small tree) and has smaller, less glossy leaves.

Subdivisions

''Prunus serotina'' belongs to ''Prunus'' subg. ''Padus'' and has the following

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

and

varieties Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

: * ''Prunus serotina'' subsp. ''capuli'' (Cav. ex Spreng.) McVaugh – central + southern Mexico * ''Prunus serotina'' subsp. ''eximia'' (Small) McVaugh – Texas * ''Prunus serotina'' subsp. ''hirsuta'' (Elliott) McVaugh (syn. ''Prunus serotina'' var. ''alabamensis'' (C. Mohr) Little) – southeastern United States * ''Prunus serotina'' subsp. ''serotina'' – Canada, United States, Mexico, Guatemala * ''Prunus serotina'' subsp. ''virens'' (Wooton & Standl.) McVaugh – southwestern United States, northern + central Mexico ** ''Prunus serotina'' var. ''virens'' (Wooton & Standl.) McVaugh ** ''Prunus serotina'' var. ''rufula'' (Wooton & Standl.) McVaugh

Distribution and habitat

The species is widespread and common in North America and South America.

Ecology

''Prunus serotina'' is a

pioneer species Pioneer species are resilient species that are the first to colonize barren environments, or to repopulate disrupted biodiverse steady-state ecosystems as part of ecological succession. Various kinds of events can create good conditions for pi ...

. In the

Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

, it is seen growing mostly in old fields with other sunlight-loving species, such as

black walnut ''Juglans nigra'', the eastern American black walnut, is a species of deciduous tree in the walnut family, Juglandaceae, native to central and eastern North America, growing mostly in riparian zones. Black walnut is susceptible to thousand can ...

black locust ''Robinia pseudoacacia'', commonly known as black locust, is a medium-sized hardwood deciduous tree, belonging to the tribe Robinieae of the legume family Fabaceae. It is native to a few small areas of the United States, but it has been widely pl ...

, and hackberry. Gleason and Cronquist (1991) describe ''P. serotina'' as " rmerly a forest tree, now abundant as a weed-tree of roadsides, waste land, and forest-margins". It is a moderately long-lived tree, with ages of up to 258 years known, though it is prone to storm damage, with branches breaking easily; any decay resulting, however, only progresses slowly. Fruit production begins around 10 years of age, but does not become heavy until 30 years and continues up to 100 years or more. Germination rates are high, and the seeds are widely dispersed by birds and bears who eat the fruit and then excrete them. Some seeds however may remain in the soil bank and not germinate for as long as three years. All ''Prunus'' species have hard seeds that benefit from

scarification Scarification involves scratching, etching, burning/ branding, or superficially cutting designs, pictures, or words into the skin as a permanent body modification or body art. The body modification can take roughly 6–12 months to heal. In t ...

to germinate (which in nature is produced by passing through an animal's digestive tract). The tree is

hardy Hardy may refer to: People * Hardy (surname) * Hardy (given name) * Hardy (singer), American singer-songwriter Places Antarctica * Mount Hardy, Enderby Land * Hardy Cove, Greenwich Island * Hardy Rocks, Biscoe Islands Australia * Hardy, ...

and can tolerate poor soils and oceanic salt sprays. ''P. serotina'' hosts the caterpillars of more than 450 species of butterflies and moths, including those of the eastern tiger swallowtail (''Papilio glaucus''), cherry gall azure (''Celastrina serotina''), viceroy (''Limenitis archippus''), and red-spotted purple/white admiral (''Limenitis arthemis'') butterflies and the cecropia (''Hyalophora cecropia''), promethea (''Callosamia promethea''), polyphemus (''Antheraea polyphemus''), small-eyed sphinx (''Paonias myops''), wild cherry sphinx (''Sphinx drupiferarum''), banded tussock (''Halysidota tessellaris''), spotted apatelodes (''Apatelodes torrefacta''), and band-edged prominent moths. Deer browse the foliage.

Pests and diseases

'' Hyphantria cunea'' can inhibit the impact of cyanide within the plants' leaves due to its alkaline stomach acid. The

eastern tent caterpillar The eastern tent caterpillar (''Malacosoma americanum'') is a species of moth in the family Lasiocampidae, the tent caterpillars or lappet moths. It is univoltine, producing one generation per year. It is a tent caterpillar, a social species t ...

defoliates entire groves some springs.

Uses

''Prunus serotina'' subsp. ''capuli'' was cultivated in Central and South America well before European contact. Known as capolcuahuitl in

Nahuatl Nahuatl ( ; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahuas, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller popul ...

(the source of the ''capuli'' epithet), it was an important food in pre-Columbian Mexico. Native Americans ate the fruit. Edible raw, the fruit is also made into jelly, and the juice can be used as a drink mixer, hence the common name 'rum cherry'. ''Prunus serotina''

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

is valuable; perhaps the premier

cabinetry A cabinet is a case or cupboard with shelves or drawers for storing or displaying items. Some cabinets are stand alone while others are built in to a wall or are attached to it like a medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically made of wood (solid ...

timber of the U.S., traded as "cherry". High quality cherry timber is known for its strong orange hues, tight grain and high price. Low-quality wood, as well as the sap wood, can be more tan. Its density when dried is around . ''Prunus serotina'' was widely introduced into Western and Central Europe as an

ornamental tree Ornamental plants or ''garden plants'' are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars th ...

in the mid-20th century, where it has become locally

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

. It has acted as an

invasive species An invasive species is an introduced species that harms its new environment. Invasive species adversely affect habitats and bioregions, causing ecological, environmental, and/or economic damage. The term can also be used for native spec ...

there, negatively affecting forest community

biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...

and regeneration.

References

External links

*
Flora of Pennsylvania
{{Authority control Bird cherries serotina Trees of Northern America Trees of Guatemala Flora of the Appalachian Mountains Flora of the United States Plants described in 1784 Taxa named by Jakob Friedrich Ehrhart Flora of the Sierra Madre Occidental Flora of the Sierra Madre Oriental Flora of the Sierra Madre del Sur Flora of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt Flora of the Sierra Madre de Oaxaca