Black cherry

Leaves

Form

• Lance-shaped, gradually tapering to both ends
• Sharp-pointed, thick and leathery
• A narrow mat of fine hairs along each side of the basal part of the midvein on lower surface

Length

• 5–15 cm

Colour

• Upper surface shiny bright green
• Lower surface paler
• Hairs brown

Margin

• Teeth distinctly elongated with a sharp incurved tip resembling a bird’s beak

Buds

Form

• Blunt, diverging slightly from the twig
• About 10 scales

Length

• 3–4 mm

Colour

• Reddish-brown
• Scales brown with darker tips and green bases

Twigs

Form

• Slender

Colour

• Reddish-brown

Flowers

Form

• In elongated loose clusters at the end of new short leafy shoots

Length

• 10–15 cm
• Flower stalk 5 mm

Structure

• Synoecious

Floral timing

• As the leaves reach full size

Fruits

Form

• In elongated drooping clusters of 6–12 fruits
• Astringent but edible
• Lower whorl of flower calyx retained at the base of each fruit

Width

• 8–10 mm

Colour

• Dark reddish-black

Timing

• Ripen in August or early September

Bark

Form

• Smooth on young trees
• Lenticels conspicuous, horizontal, dash-like
• With age separating into square scales, curved outward at their vertical edges; lenticels still visible

Colour

• Very dark reddish-brown to blackish
• Lenticels greyish
• Scales reddish-brown on the inner surface

Wood

Texture

• Moderately heavy, hard, strong
• Decorative, easy to work

Morphology

• Semi-ring porous
• Pores visible with a hand lens
• Rays and annual rings visible to the naked eye

Uses

• Furniture-making

Size

Height

• To 22 m

Diameter

• To 60 cm

Maximum age

• 150 years

Tree form

Forest-grown

Trunk

• Sinuous with little taper
• Branches arching with drooping tips

Root system

• Shallow, wide-spreading
• Seedling produces a taproot in the 1st year

Habitat

Site

• Wide variety of soils

Light tolerance

• Intolerant of shade

Associated species

• Mixed with other broadleaf species, such as sugar maple, white ash, basswood, yellow birch, white oak, shagbark hickory and tulip-tree

Range

Nova Scotia eastward through southern Quebec and southern Ontario