Trees Planet: Prunus avium - Wild Cherry

General Information

Common Name	Wild Cherry, Sweet Cherry, Gean
Scientific Name	Prunus avium
Sun Tolerance	Full Sun
Height	6-9 m (20 - 30 ft)
Spread	4.5 -6 m (15 - 20 ft)
Growth Rate	Fast
Bloom Time	Early Summer
Color	Green
Flower Color	White
Type	Tree
Native	Europe, USA

Classification

Kingdom	Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision	Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division	Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class	Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass	Rosidae
Order/	Rosales
Family	Rosaceae – Rose family
Genus	Prunus L. – cherry
Species	P. avium

Prunus avium - Wild Cherry

Prunus avium common name is Wild Cherry also known as Sweet Cherry or Gean. It is to be found sparingly in mixed woodlands as a moderate-sized tree, or occasionally as a tall tree of open habit, the lower branches spreading but the remainder ascending steeply.

The twigs are greyish-brown, and the winter buds are alternate, brown, and pointed on short spur shoots. The pale green, 2 – 3 inch long elliptical leaves, which droop somewhat on fairly long stalks, have finely toothed margins and are without hairs on the upper surface, but downy below. They turn brilliant crimson in autumn.

The white, sweetly scented, bi-sexual, self-sterile flowers, with long, slender stalks, are cup-shaped and borne in clusters (umbels) of from two to six in April-May.

The fruit (a cherry) is small and shiny, changing from green through bright red to purple when ripe in July, the taste is sweet or bitter, never acid.

The bark is grey or reddish-brown, smooth and shiny, ringed with orange-colored lenticels, and peels horizontally in thin strips. In older trees the lower bark becomes rough and furrowed. The attractive wood is golden or even greenish-brown, rather heavy, tough and hard. It is a good furniture timber, and is prized as a turnery wood for such items as bowls.

Foresters value Gen as an amenity tree, particularly on the edges of plantations. It suckers freely and it coppices when cut.