Wild cherry

Short Description

Wild cherry trees can grow up to 30 m tall with dense branching in the crown but sparse leaves.

The leaves are oval and pointed. The leaf edge is rough and double-serrated. They grow alternately on the branch. Each leaf stalk generally has two reddish nectar glands.

The bark is initially smooth, red-brown to grey and shiny with transverse cork warts (lenticles). The cork bark peels off in transverse bands. Older trees form a black-grey vertically fissured bark.

The white flowers are clustered in tufts of pendulous flower heads. The anther in the middle of the flower is generally yellow to reddish.

The stone fruits are spherical drupes that look like cherries. When ripe, they are red to very dark red and shiny. The hard-shelled stone in the middle encloses one seed.

In the city

The wild cherry is a very popular house and garden tree because of its large and conspicuous flowers. It is drought-tolerant, but sensitive to late frosts and soil compaction. This makes it a suitable park and garden tree, but rather unsuitable as a street tree. It is an important bird and bee nutrient tree and thus contributes to species richness in the city. Its potential for improving urban air quality by binding particulate matter is also discussed.