Trees Planet: Prunus padus

General Information

Common Name	Bird Cherry
Scientific Name	Prunus padus
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. padus

Prunus padus - Bird Cherry

Prunus padus common name is Bird Cherry. This is a small slender cherry tree, sometime only a bush is particularly at home along stream sides in the Scottish Highlands. But it is mainly native to northern Europe and northern Asia. The crown is rounded, The upper branches ascending steeply, the lower spreading and even dropping.

The winter buds are stout, shiny, sharply pointed, and often bent, their scales vary in color from yellow to dark brown. The young shoots turn olive-green and eventually dark brown. The 2-3 inch long leaves are elliptical with finely toothed margins and are dull green on top and pale green below.

Prunus padus - Bird Cherry

There are up to forty small, white, bi-sexual, self-fertile flowers, which open in May, in each drooping or spreading spike-like raceme. The fruit (a cherry) changes from green to black, is shiny, up to half an inch in diameter and harsh and bitter to the tested, it ripens in August, and is relished by birds.

The bark is dark brown, and remains smooth, but is not shiny. The bands of orange-colored lenticels are much shorter than those on Gean (P. avium). The bark peels, and like the sappy wood has an unpleasant smell of bitter almonds. The sapwood is white and the heartwood dark purplish-brown.

Bird Cherry seems to spread more by suckering than from seed, though seedlings are extremely hardy and easily raised. It has produced several varieties and distinct geographical forms but as found growing wild in Europe does not vary greatly.