Notes.—This tree, which is usually called Wild Cherry, produces excellent lumber for furniture, and interior finish. It can be distinguished from the Choke Cherry, which it most closely resembles, by its larger size, longer narrower leaves, and rougher bark. Wild cherry trees large enough for lumber are now becoming scarce.
CHOKE CHERRY
Prunus virginiana, L.
Form.—Height 15-30 feet, diameter 6-12 inches; trunk usually short with a rounded crown.
Leaves.—Alternate, simple, 2-4 inches long, oval, oblong, or obovate, abruptly pointed, very sharply serrate, with slender teeth, glabrous, dull dark green above, paler beneath.
Flowers.—May-June; perfect; about ½ inch broad, white, arranged in a drooping, many-flowered raceme 3-6 inches long.
Fruit.—Ripens in late summer; a globular, dark crimson drupe, borne on short pedicels in drooping clusters, astringent.
Bark.—Smooth, dark gray, somewhat roughened on old trunks by shallow fissures. Inner bark has a disagreeable odor.