Black Cherry
Encyclopedia
Prunus serotina, commonly called black cherry, wild black cherry, rum cherry, or mountain black cherry, is a woody plant species belonging to the genus Prunus
. This cherry
is native to eastern North America
: from eastern Canada
through southern Quebec
and Ontario
; south through the eastern United States
to Texas
and central Florida
; with disjunct populations in Arizona
and New Mexico
; and in the mountains of Mexico
and Guatemala
.
tree
growing to 15–30 m tall with a trunk diameter of up to 70–120 cm, occasionally more, with flower
s in raceme
s. The leaves
are simple, 6–14 cm long, with a serrated margin. The flowers are small (10–15 mm diameter), with five white petals and about 20 stamens, and are fragrant; there are around 40 flowers on each raceme. The fruit
is a drupe
, 1 cm diameter, green to red at first, ripening black; it is usually astringent
and bitter when eaten fresh, but also somewhat sweet. The fruit is readily eaten by bird
s.
A mature black cherry can easily be identified in a forest by its very broken, dark grey to black bark, which has the appearance of very thick, burnt potato chips. However, for about the first decade or so of its life, the bark resembles that of a birch
, and is thin and striped. It can also quickly be identified by its long, shiny leaves resembling that of a sourwood
, and by an almond-like odor when a young twig is scratched and held close to the nose.
:
The typical subsp. serotina is sometimes further divided into four varieties
, var. serotina in the east of the range, var. eximia in Texas, and vars. rufula and virens in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.
Black cherry is closely related to the chokecherry
(Prunus virginiana); chokecherry, however, is classified as a shrub or small tree and has smaller and less glossy leaves.
. In the Midwest, it is seen growing mostly in old fields with other sunlight-loving species, such as black walnut
, black locust
, and hackberry. 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. It is well known to proliferate in the Allegheny National Forest
region of northwest Pennsylvania
.
The black cherry is also a host of caterpillar
s of various Lepidoptera
(see List of Lepidoptera which feed on Prunus). The eastern tent caterpillar
defoliates entire groves some springs.
and has some use in flavoring liqueur
s; they are also a popular flavoring for soda
s and used in many ice creams. The black cherry is commonly used instead of sweet cherries (Prunus avium
) to achieve a sharper taste. It is also used in cakes which include dark chocolate, such as a Black Forest gateau
and as garnishes cocktail
s.
The timber
is valuable, perhaps the premier cabinetry
timber of the U.S., traded as "cherry". It is known for its strong red color and high price. Its density when dried is around 580 kg per cubic meter.
The wood is also used for cooking and smoking foods, where it imparts a unique flavor.
The foliage, particularly when wilted, 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 they 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, and its best to ensure grazing animals' pasture has limited access to it.
Black cherry is locally naturalized
in parts of Europe
, having escaped from cultivation as an ornamental tree.
P. serotina was widely introduced into Central Europe in the mid 20th century. It has acted as an invasive species there, negatively affecting forest community diversity and regeneration.
s, the seeds of black cherries contain compounds that can be converted into cyanide
, such as amygdalin
. These compounds release hydrogen cyanide when the seed is ground or minced, which releases enzymes that break down the compounds. These enzymes include amygdalin beta-glucosidase
, prunasin beta-glucosidase
and mandelonitrile lyase
. In contrast, although the flesh of cherries also contain these compounds, they do not contain the enzymes needed to produce cyanide, so the flesh is safe to eat.
Prunus
Prunus is a genus of trees and shrubs, which includes the plums, cherries, peaches, apricots and almonds. There are around 430 species spread throughout the northern temperate regions of the globe. Many members of the genus are widely cultivated for fruit and ornament.-Botany:Members of the genus...
. This cherry
Cherry
The cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus Prunus, and is a fleshy stone fruit. The cherry fruits of commerce are usually obtained from a limited number of species, including especially cultivars of the wild cherry, Prunus avium....
is native to eastern North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
: from eastern Canada
Eastern Canada
Eastern Canada is generally considered to be the region of Canada east of Manitoba, consisting of the following provinces:* New Brunswick* Newfoundland and Labrador* Nova Scotia* Ontario* Prince Edward Island* Quebec...
through southern Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
and Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
; south through the eastern United States
Eastern United States
The Eastern United States, the American East, or simply the East is traditionally defined as the states east of the Mississippi River. The first two tiers of states west of the Mississippi have traditionally been considered part of the West, but can be included in the East today; usually in...
to Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
and central Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
; with disjunct populations in Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
and New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
; and in the mountains of Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
.
Description
The black cherry is a species in the subgenus Padus and is a deciduousDeciduous
Deciduous means "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off", and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally, and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...
tree
Tree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
growing to 15–30 m tall with a trunk diameter of up to 70–120 cm, occasionally more, with flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
s in raceme
Raceme
A raceme is a type of inflorescence that is unbranched and indeterminate and bears pedicellate flowers — flowers having short floral stalks called pedicels — along the axis. In botany, axis means a shoot, in this case one bearing the flowers. In a raceme, the oldest flowers are borne...
s. The leaves
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
are simple, 6–14 cm long, with a serrated margin. The flowers are small (10–15 mm diameter), with five white petals and about 20 stamens, and are fragrant; there are around 40 flowers on each raceme. The fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
is a drupe
Drupe
In botany, a drupe is a fruit in which an outer fleshy part surrounds a shell of hardened endocarp with a seed inside. These fruits develop from a single carpel, and mostly from flowers with superior ovaries...
, 1 cm diameter, green to red at first, ripening black; it is usually astringent
Astringent
An astringent substance is a chemical compound that tends to shrink or constrict body tissues, usually locally after topical medicinal application. The word "astringent" derives from Latin adstringere, meaning "to bind fast"...
and bitter when eaten fresh, but also somewhat sweet. The fruit is readily eaten by bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s.
Birch
Birch is a tree or shrub of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The Betula genus contains 30–60 known taxa...
, and is thin and striped. It can also quickly be identified by its long, shiny leaves resembling that of a sourwood
Sourwood
Sourwood or sorrel tree is the sole species in the genus Oxydendrum, in the family Ericaceae. It is native to eastern North America, from southern Pennsylvania south to northwest Florida and west to southern Illinois; it is most common in the lower chain of the Appalachian Mountains...
, and by an almond-like odor when a young twig is scratched and held close to the nose.
Subspecies
There are two subspeciesSubspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
:
- Prunus serotina subsp. serotina - Canada, United States
- Prunus serotina subsp. capuli (Cav.) McVaugh - Mexico, Guatemala
The typical subsp. serotina is sometimes further divided into four varieties
Variety (biology)
In botanical nomenclature, variety is a taxonomic rank below that of species: as such, it gets a three-part infraspecific name....
, var. serotina in the east of the range, var. eximia in Texas, and vars. rufula and virens in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.
Black cherry is closely related to the chokecherry
Chokecherry
Prunus virginiana, commonly called chokecherry, bitter-berry, or Virginia bird cherry, is a species of bird cherry native to North America, where it is found almost throughout the continent except for the Deep South and the far north.-Growth:It is a suckering shrub or small tree growing to 5 m tall...
(Prunus virginiana); chokecherry, however, is classified as a shrub or small tree and has smaller and less glossy leaves.
Ecology
The black cherry is a pioneer speciesPioneer species
Pioneer species are species which colonize previously uncolonized land, usually leading to ecological succession. They are the first organisms to start the chain of events leading to a livable biosphere or ecosystem...
. In the Midwest, it is seen growing mostly in old fields with other sunlight-loving species, such as black walnut
Black Walnut
Juglans nigra, the Eastern Black walnut, is a species of flowering tree in the hickory family, Juglandaceae, that is native to eastern North America. It grows mostly in riparian zones, from southern Ontario, west to southeast South Dakota, south to Georgia, northern Florida and southwest to central...
, black locust
Black locust
Robinia pseudoacacia, commonly known as the Black Locust, is a tree in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae. It is native to the southeastern United States, but has been widely planted and naturalized elsewhere in temperate North America, Europe, Southern Africa and Asia and is...
, and hackberry. 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. It is well known to proliferate in the Allegheny National Forest
Allegheny National Forest
The Allegheny National Forest is a National Forest located in northwestern Pennsylvania. The forest covers of land. Within the forest is Kinzua Dam, which impounds the Allegheny River to form Allegheny Reservoir. The administrative headquarters for the Allegheny National Forest is located in Warren...
region of northwest Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
.
The black cherry is also a host of caterpillar
Caterpillar
Caterpillars are the larval form of members of the order Lepidoptera . They are mostly herbivorous in food habit, although some species are insectivorous. Caterpillars are voracious feeders and many of them are considered to be pests in agriculture...
s of various Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera is a large order of insects that includes moths and butterflies . It is one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies...
(see List of Lepidoptera which feed on Prunus). The eastern tent caterpillar
Eastern tent caterpillar
The Eastern tent caterpillar is a univoltine, social species that forms communal nests in the branches of trees. It is sometimes confused with the gypsy moth, or the fall webworm and may be erroneously referred to as a bagworm which is the common name applied to unrelated caterpillars in the...
defoliates entire groves some springs.
Cultivation and uses
The fruit is suitable for making jam, cherry piesPie
A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that covers or completely contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients....
and has some use in flavoring liqueur
Liqueur
A liqueur is an alcoholic beverage that has been flavored with fruit, herbs, nuts, spices, flowers, or cream and bottled with added sugar. Liqueurs are typically quite sweet; they are usually not aged for long but may have resting periods during their production to allow flavors to marry.The...
s; they are also a popular flavoring for soda
Soft drink
A soft drink is a non-alcoholic beverage that typically contains water , a sweetener, and a flavoring agent...
s and used in many ice creams. The black cherry is commonly used instead of sweet cherries (Prunus avium
Prunus avium
Prunus avium, commonly called wild cherry, sweet cherry, bird cherry, or gean, is a species of cherry, native to Europe, west Turkey, northwest Africa, and western Asia, from the British Isles south to Morocco and Tunisia, north to the Trondheimsfjord region in Norway and east to the Caucasus, and...
) to achieve a sharper taste. It is also used in cakes which include dark chocolate, such as a Black Forest gateau
Black Forest gateau
Black Forest gateau and Black Forest cake are the English names for the German dessert Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte , literally "Black Forest cherry torte"....
and as garnishes cocktail
Cocktail
A cocktail is an alcoholic mixed drink that contains two or more ingredients—at least one of the ingredients must be a spirit.Cocktails were originally a mixture of spirits, sugar, water, and bitters. The word has come to mean almost any mixed drink that contains alcohol...
s.
The timber
Timber
Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...
is valuable, perhaps the premier cabinetry
Cabinet (furniture)
A cabinet is usually a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors or drawers for storing miscellaneous items. Some cabinets stand alone while others are built into a wall or are attached to it like a medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically made of wood or, now increasingly, of synthetic...
timber of the U.S., traded as "cherry". It is known for its strong red color and high price. Its density when dried is around 580 kg per cubic meter.
The wood is also used for cooking and smoking foods, where it imparts a unique flavor.
The foliage, particularly when wilted, 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 they 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, and its best to ensure grazing animals' pasture has limited access to it.
Black cherry is locally naturalized
Naturalisation (biology)
In biology, naturalisation is any process by which a non-native organism spreads into the wild and its reproduction is sufficient to maintain its population. Such populations are said to be naturalised....
in parts of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, having escaped from cultivation as an ornamental tree.
P. serotina was widely introduced into Central Europe in the mid 20th century. It has acted as an invasive species there, negatively affecting forest community diversity and regeneration.
Biochemistry
Like apricotApricot
The apricot, Prunus armeniaca, is a species of Prunus, classified with the plum in the subgenus Prunus. The native range is somewhat uncertain due to its extensive prehistoric cultivation.- Description :...
s, the seeds of black cherries contain compounds that can be converted into cyanide
Cyanide
A cyanide is a chemical compound that contains the cyano group, -C≡N, which consists of a carbon atom triple-bonded to a nitrogen atom. Cyanides most commonly refer to salts of the anion CN−. Most cyanides are highly toxic....
, such as amygdalin
Amygdalin
Amygdalin , C20H27NO11, is a glycoside initially isolated from the seeds of the tree Prunus dulcis, also known as bitter almonds, by Pierre-Jean Robiquet...
. These compounds release hydrogen cyanide when the seed is ground or minced, which releases enzymes that break down the compounds. These enzymes include amygdalin beta-glucosidase
Amygdalin beta-glucosidase
In enzymology, an amygdalin beta-glucosidase is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reactionThus, the two substrates of this enzyme are -amygdalin and H2O, whereas its two products are -prunasin and D-glucose....
, prunasin beta-glucosidase
Prunasin beta-glucosidase
In enzymology, a prunasin beta-glucosidase is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction-prunasin + H2O \rightleftharpoons D-glucose + mandelonitrile...
and mandelonitrile lyase
Mandelonitrile lyase
In enzymology, a mandelonitrile lyase is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reactionHence, this enzyme has one substrate, mandelonitrile, and two products, cyanide and benzaldehyde....
. In contrast, although the flesh of cherries also contain these compounds, they do not contain the enzymes needed to produce cyanide, so the flesh is safe to eat.