British Native Trees
and Shrubs

Bird Cherry Prunus padus (Rosacea)

Geoffrey Chaucer

 

Bird cherry is at its best in early summer when its white blossom perfumes the air with the scent of almonds. With its often small stature, rounded crown and steeply ascending upper branches, the bird cherry can qualify as a shrub rather than a tree, although it may grow as tall as 15 m in height. It has smooth, dark reddish-brown bark that peels and smells of bitter almonds, and short horizontal bands of orange breathing pores, while the shiny, pointed winter buds range in colour from yellow to dark brown. The elliptic, finely-toothed leaves which unfold in May are dull green above, pale green below and up to 10 cm long. These are followed later in the month by long, loose, pendent or spreading racemes of up to 40 white, five-petalled, almond-scented, self-fertile flowers. The spherical, bitter-tasting, shiny black fruits, up to 8mm across, ripen in late summer and the leaves often turn gold and red before falling in October.

Bird cherry is found in moist, deciduous oak and birch woodland and in scrub throughout northern England up to 500 m in North Yorkshire, although it is much planted and naturalized in southern and central England.

It is a good choice for gardens of all sizes and is very hardy, although it does not like exposure to strong winds. It casts light shade, allowing plants to grow underneath, and prefers an open site and damp soil. It is easily propagated from fruits collected in July and stored, with the flesh removed, until the following spring before sowing, thinning and planting out in the same way as wild cherry.

The timber of light sapwood and darker brown heartwood can be used for cabinet-making.

The flowers attract many pollinating bees and flies and the leaves are host to numerous insects. The small cherries are full of tannin and inedible to humans, but, as the name implies, they are relished by birds. As the fruits are smaller than those of the wild cherry, they can be swallowed by robins and thrushes.

Page last updated - January 10, 2002  

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