Black Cherry

The Prunus Serotina is commonly known as Black Cherry, Mountain Black Cherry, Rum Cherry, Wild Black Cherry, as well as Wild Cherry

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Growing Regions

Black cherry grows in eastern North America from western Minnesota south to eastern Texas, and eastward to the Atlantic from central Florida to Nova Scotia [34]. Outlying populations grow in central Texas; in the mountains of western Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona; and south in Mexico to Guatemala [34]. The varieties are distributed as follows [34]: typical black cherry (var. serotina) - from Nova Scotia west to central Minnesota, south to east Texas, and east to central Florida. Alabama black cherry (var. alabamensis) - from eastern Georgia west to northeastern Alabama, and south to northwestern Florida. Also local in South Carolina and North Carolina. escarpment cherry (var. exima) - found in the Edwards Plateau region of central Texas. southwestern black cherry (var. rufula) - in the mountains from western Texas to central Arizona, and south to northern and central Mexico.

     

General Information

The currently accepted scientific name of black cherry is Prunus serotina Ehrh. [34]. Recognized varieties found in the United States and Canada include: var. serotina - black cherry var. alabamensis (Mohr) Little - Alabama black cherry var. exima (Small) Little - escarpment black cherry var. rufula (Woot. & Standl) McVaugh - southwestern black cherry

Black cherry occurs as scattered individuals in numerous forest types of
the East (see SAF cover types listed).  It is codominant in only one
cover type, the black cherry-maple type (SAF 28) found in the Allegheny
Plateau and Allegheny Mountain sections of New York, Pennsylvania,
Maryland, and West Virginia [18].  In this type, black cherry is a
primary component along with red maple (Acer rubrum), sugar maple (A.
saccharum), and white ash (Fraxinus americana).  Other common associates
include American beech (Fagus grandifolia), eastern hemlock (Tsuga
canadensis), sweet birch (Betula lenta), yellow birch (B.
alleghaniensis), yellow-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera), cucumbertree
(Magnolia acuminata), oak (Quercus spp.), and hickory (Carya spp.)
[1,5,29,41].

• More Black Cherry Information

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