ROSACEAE - - Rose Family

Prunus serotina Ehrhart — Wild Black Cherry

Wild Black Cherry (Prunus serotina) - Tree with ascending branches, becoming 35 m. tall; leaf-blades firm, elliptic, varying to obovate, or elliptic-lanceolate, 5—15 cm. long, acuminate or acute at both ends, or rounded at the base crenate-serrulate, with callous-tipped teeth, glabrous or nearly so; sepals ovate, longer than broad; corolla 8—10 mm. broad; drupe globose, 8—10 mm. in diameter, dark-purple or nearly black, sweet but slightly astringent. The bark of this and other species is used in medicine. The wood is used in cabinet-work.

Habitat:

Rich coves, bottomlands, northern hardwood forests, and in a wide variety of lower elevation habitats from dry to mesic, and weedy in fencerows. In the Piedmont and Coastal Plain, P. serotina is generally a small, scrubby tree of fencerows and an understory tree in forests and woodlands, but in the Mountains reaching large sizes and full canopy stature.

Habitat information from:
Weakley, Alan S., Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States, Working Draft of 21 May 2015.

The range of Prunus serotina (Wild Black Cherry)

Kartesz, J.T., The Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2015. North American Plant Atlas. (http://bonap.net/napa). Chapel Hill, N.C. [maps generated from Kartesz, J.T. 2015. Floristic Synthesis of North America, Version 1.0. Biota of North America Program (BONAP). (in press)].

The Georgia range of Prunus serotina (Wild Black Cherry)

Zomlefer, W.B., J.R. Carter, & D.E. Giannasi. 2014 (and ongoing). The Atlas of Georgia Plants. University of Georgia Herbarium (Athens, Georgia) and Valdosta State University Herbarium (Valdosta, Georgia). Available at: http://www.georgiaherbaria.org/.