Prunus serotina, commonly called black cherry,[3]wild black cherry, rum cherry,[4] or mountain black cherry,[5] is a deciduous tree or shrub[4] in the rose family Rosaceae. Despite its common names, it is not very closely related to commonly cultivated cherries. It is found in the Americas.
Description
Prunus serotina is a medium-sized, fast-growing forest tree growing to a height of 15–24 metres (49–79 feet). The leaves are 5–13 centimetres (2–5 inches) 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 10–15 cm (4–6 in) long which contain several dozen flowers. The flowers give rise to reddish-black "berries" (drupes) fed on by birds,[4] 5–10 millimetres (1⁄4–3⁄8 in) in diameter.[6][7]
For about its first decade the bark of a black cherry tree is thin, smooth, and banded, resembling a birch. 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 compounds produced and stored by the plant as a defense mechanism against herbivores.[8][9]
The foliage, particularly when wilted, also contains cyanogenic glycosides, which convert to hydrogen cyanide if eaten by animals.[14] 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 fencerows 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,[citation needed] and grazing animals' access to it should be limited.
Similar species
Black cherry is closely related to the chokecherry (P. virginiana), which tends to be shorter (a shrub or small tree) and has smaller, less glossy leaves.
Prunus serotina is a pioneer species. In the Midwest, it is seen growing mostly in old fields with other sunlight-loving species, such as black walnut, black locust, and hackberry. Gleason and Cronquist (1991) describe P. serotina as "[f]ormerly a forest tree, now abundant as a weed-tree of roadsides, waste land, and forest-margins".[22] 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[23] 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 to germinate (which in nature is produced by passing through an animal's digestive tract).[citation needed] The tree is hardy and can tolerate poor soils and oceanic salt sprays.[24]
Hyphantria cunea can inhibit the impact of cyanide within the plants' leaves due to its alkaline stomach acid.[26] The eastern tent caterpillar defoliates entire groves some springs.
Uses
Prunus serotina subsp. capuli was cultivated in Central and South America well before European contact.[27]
Known as capolcuahuitl in Nahuatl (the source of the capuli epithet), it was an important food in pre-Columbian Mexico. Native Americans ate the fruit.[23] 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'.[28]
Prunus serotinatimber is valuable; perhaps the premier cabinetry 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 560 kg/m3 (35 lb/cu ft).[29]
^Poulton JE (1988). "Localization and Catabolism of Cyanogenic Glycosides". Ciba Foundation Symposium 140 - Cyanide Compounds in Biology. Novartis Foundation Symposia. Vol. 140. pp. 67–91. doi:10.1002/9780470513712.ch6. ISBN9780470513712. PMID3073063.
^Yemm RS, Poulton JE (June 1986). "Isolation and characterization of multiple forms of mandelonitrile lyase from mature black cherry (Prunus serotina Ehrh.) seeds". Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics. 247 (2): 440–5. doi:10.1016/0003-9861(86)90604-1. PMID3717954.
^"Prunus serotina". County-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014.
^Morales Quirós, J. F. 2014. Rosaceae. En: Manual de Plantas de Costa Rica. Vol. VII. B.E. Hammel, M.H. Grayum, C. Herrera & N. Zamora (eds.). Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 129: 437–463
^Jørgensen, P. M., M. H. Nee & S. G. Beck. (eds.) 2014. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares de Bolivia, Monographs in systematic botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 127(1–2): i–viii, 1–1744.
^Gleason, Henry A. and Arthur Cronquist. 1991. "Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada, Second Edition." The New York Botanical Garden. Bronx, New York.
^Starfinger U. 1997. Introduction and naturalization of Prunus serotina in Central Europe. In: "Plant Invasions: Studies from North America and Europe" (eds by J.H. Brock, M. Wade, P.Pysek, D. Green). Backhuys Publ. Leiden: 161-171.
^Stypiński P. 1979. Stanowiska czeremchy amerykańskiej Padus serotina (Ehrh.) Borkh. w lasach państwowych Pojezierza Mazurskiego. Rocznik dendrologiczny (in Polish). 32: 191-204.
