WILD RED CHERRY
Prunus pennsylvanica, L. f.
Form.—Height 20-35 feet, diameter 8-12 inches; trunk straight, short, tapering, with upright branches forming a narrow crown.
Leaves.—Alternate, simple, 3-5 inches long, oblong-lanceolate, pointed, finely and sharply serrate, glabrous, thin, bright green above, paler beneath.
Flowers.—May, with the leaves; perfect; about ½ inch wide, white on slender pedicels in 4-5-flowered umbels.
Fruit.—Ripens in July and persists until autumn; a globular drupe, about ¼ inch in diameter, bright red, thick-skinned, sour.
Bark.—Smooth, or somewhat roughened by loose, papery plates, reddish brown.
Wood.—Light, soft, close-grained, light brown with thin yellowish sapwood.
Range.—Labrador to British Columbia and southward to North Carolina and Colorado.
Distribution in West Virginia.—Common in West Virginia along the mountains, especially in areas from which other timber has been destroyed by fire.
Habitat.—Sandy soils of burned-over mountain-sides and flats, and along streams at lower elevations.
Notes.—Fire Cherry and Bird Cherry are two common names of this tree, the first denoting its habitat and the second the attractiveness of its fruit to birds. This species performs its principal service in covering otherwise bare, fire-burned areas to which the seeds have been carried and dropped by birds.