Prunus serotina

By Candace Paige Anderson

Fruit Of Prunus serotina

Scientific Name: Prunus serotina.

Authority is Ehrhart.(Cited in Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas by Albert Radford, Harry Ahles, & C. Ritchie Bell)

Common Names: Black Cherry

Higher Taxa: Class- Magnoliopsida(Class thru Genus cited from An Integrated Systemof Flowering Plants by Arthur Cronquist)

  • Subclass-Rosidae
  • Order- Rosales
  • Family-Rosaceae
  • Genus- Prunus
  • Tribe- Tribe VII Pruneaae (Cited in Gray's Manual of Botany 8th Ed. By M.L. Fernald and Merritt Lyndon Fernald)

    Identification:

    Ehrhart described this species(Cited in Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas by Albert Radford, Harry Ahles, & C. Ritchie Bell). Herbariun and types are unknown. (Cited from Taxonomic Literature Volume 1: A-G 2nd edition by Frans A. Stafleu & Richard S. Cowan). The species Prunus serotina is described and is included in an identification key in the Manual of the Trees of North America Vol 2 by Charles Sargent. (Characteristics cited from the Manual of the Trees of North America Vol 2 by Charles Sargent) Leaves oval , oblong or oblong-lanceolate, gradually or sometimes abruptly acuminate at apex, cuneate at base, finely serrate with appresses incurved callous teeth, and furnished at the very base with 1 or more dark red conspicuous glands, when they unfold slightly hairy below on the midrib, and often bronze-green, and at maturity glabrous, thick and firm, subsoriaceous, dark green and very lustrous below, paler below. Flowers appearing when the leaves are about half grown from the end of March in Texas to the first week in June in the valley of the St. Lawrenece River.Petals pure white. Fruit ripening from June to October, in droopinf racemes, depressed-globose, slightly lobed, dark red when fully grown, almost black when ripe, with a thin skin, and dark purple juicy flesh of pleasant vinous flavor. A tree with bitter aromatic bark and leaves. Bark is thick an broken by reticulated fissures into small irregular plates scaly on the surface, and dark red-brown, or near the Gulf-coast light gray or nearly white. Bark used for cabinet making and the interior finish of homes. The roots and branches yield hydrocyanic acid used in medicine as a tonic and sedative. The ripe fruit is used to flavor alcoholic liquors.

    Geography((Cited from Manual of the Trees of North America Vol 2 by Charles Sargent)

    Nova Scotia westward through the Canadian provincees to Lake Superior, and southward through the eastern states to central Florida, and westward to eastern South Dakatoa, southeastern Nebraska, eastern Kansas, central Oklahoma and the valley of the east fork of the Frio River, Texas once very abundant in all the Appalachian region, reaching its greatest size on the slopes of the high A;;eghany Mountains from West Virgina to Georgia, and in Alabama.

    Prunus serotina L.
    AREA STATUS REFERENCES
    North America:
    Continental United States; Canada    		YesSargent, 1965
    Eastern North America:
    United States east of Mississippi;
    Ontario and eastern Canada    		YesSargent, 1965
    Southeastern United States:
    AL AR DE DC FL GA KY MD NC SC TN VA WV    		YesSargent, 1965
    Southern Appalachian States:
    AL GA KY MD NC SC TN VA WV    		YesSargent, 1965
    Coastal PlainyesSargent, 1965
    PiedmontyesPreston, 1976
    Blue Ridge MountainsyesSargent, 1965
    Great Smoky Mountains National Park
    		yesPreston, 1976
    Ridge and ValleyYesPreston, 1976
    Cumberland Plateau?--
    Central ArchYesSargent, 1965
    GeorgiaYesSargent, 1965
    Clarke County, GeorgiaYesUGA Herbarium Specimens
    Sams FarmyesCandace Anderson Pers. Ob.
    Old Field
    		yesCandace Anderson Pers. Ob.
    Wetland
    		?-
    Woods
    		yesCandace Anderson Pers. Ob.
    1-Hectare Plot
    		NoCandace Anderson Pers. Ob.

    References:

    Aheles, H., Bell, C.R., & Radford, A. 1968. Manual of the Vascular Flora of the
    Carolinas Vol. 2. The University of North Carolina Press. Pg. 569.
    Cowan,R., & Stafleu, F.A. 1976. Taxonomic Literature Vol. 1: A-G 2nd Edition. Utrecht ------Holkema & Scheltema Bohn. Pg. 569.
    Cronquist, A. 1981. An Integrated System of Classification of Flowering Plants.
    ------Columbia University Press New York. Pg XII-XV.
    Fernald, M.L. 1964. Gray's Manual of Botany 8th Edition. American Book Company. New York.
    ------ Pg.874-876.
    Sargent, C.S. 1965. Manual of the Trees of North America Vol.1. Dover Publications,
    ------- Inc. New York. Pg. 575-576.