Habitat: Roadsides, fencerows, edge of woods.
Range: Nova Scotia across to Ontario, south to Texas, east to Florida.
Distinguishing Features: The Wild Black Cherry is similar to the Choke Cherry but usually is a larger tree with thicker leaves and with the teeth tending to curve inward.
CHOKE CHERRY
Prunus virginiana L.
Growth Form: Small tree to 20 feet tall, often only a shrub; trunk diameter up to 5 inches; crown irregular.
Bark: Thin, smooth and reddish-brown at first, becoming furrowed and darkened.
Twigs: Slender, smooth, reddish-brown with pale lenticels; leaf scars alternate, half-round, each with 3 bundle traces.
Buds: Ovoid, pointed, brown, more or less smooth, up to ¼ inch long.
Leaves: Alternate, simple; blades oblong or oval, short-pointed at the tip, tapering to the base, up to 4 inches long and about half as broad, finely and sharply toothed along the edges, green, smooth and shiny on the upper surface, paler and smooth or with a few hairs on the lower surface; leafstalks slender, up to 1 inch long, smooth, with 2 glands near the tip.