Plant Family: Rosaceae
Growth Form: Medium-sized to large tree, up to 30 meters high, the largest Cherry in our area.
Leaves: Alternate, simple, narrowly elliptic, thick, with rounded teeth, 6 – 12 cm long, the midrib beneath has short brown hairs.
Bark: Reddish brown, smooth, with lenticels on young trees; dark gray with thick plates on older trees.
Flowers: White, with 5 petals, held on long racemes, May to June.
Fruits: Shiny, purple-black drupes, 1 cm in diameter, held in racemes up to 12 cm long, the calyx remains on the ripe fruit; August to September.
Habitat: Rich woods, bottomlands, roadsides, fencerows.
Range: Common throughout the eastern United States and Canada with disjunct populations in the mountain forests of Arizona, New Mexico, and Mexico.
Similar Species: Pin Cherry also has narrow leaves, but they lack hairs beneath, spur branches are present, and the fruits are found in short clusters, not on racemes. Choke Cherry has broader leaves that lack hairs along the midrib, and the calyx does not remain on the ripe fruit.
Comments: Black Cherry will be found as a large mature tree in deciduous woods, but does double duty as a colonizer along roads and fencerows, where it often takes a shrubbier growth form. The wood of Black Cherry is hard, durable, and commercially valuable, used for cabinetry, furniture and paneling.
