VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Prunus serotina | Black Cherry 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
Black cherry is an important commercial tree.  The rich reddish-brown
wood is strong, hard, and close-grained.  It works well and finishes
smoothly, making it one of the most valued cabinet and furniture woods
in North America [59].  Black cherry wood is also used for paneling,
interior trim, veneers, handles, crafts, toys, and scientific
instruments [17,58].  Black cherry's commercial range, where large
numbers of high-quality trees are found, is restricted to the Allegheny
Plateau of Pennsylvania, New York, and West Virginia [39].


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
Black cherry leaves, twigs, bark, and seeds are poisonous to livestock.
They contain a cyanogenic glycoside which breaks down during digestion
into hydrocyanic acid [52].  Most livestock poisoning apparently comes
from eating wilted leaves, which contain more of the toxin than fresh
leaves do.  One author speculated that more livestock are killed from
eating black cherry than from any other plant [17].  White-tailed deer
eat the leaves and twigs without harm, and browse small to moderate
amounts of seedlings and saplings [39].

Black cherry fruits are important mast for numerous species of birds and
mammals.  Numerous songbirds feed on black cherries as they migrate
south in the fall.  Passerine birds that make considerable use of black
cherry fruits include the American robin, brown thrasher, mockingbird,
eastern bluebird, European starling, gray catbird, blue jay, willow
flycatcher, northern cardinal, common crow, and waxwings, thrushes,
woodpeckers, grackles, grosbeaks, sparrows, and vireos [42,43].  Black
cherries are also important in the summer and fall diets of the ruffed
grouse, sharp-tailed grouse, wild turkey, northern bobwhite, and greater
and lesser prairie chicken [33,39,58].  The red fox, raccoon, opossum,
and squirrels and rabbits also eat the fruit [58].  Black cherries have
been described as a favorite food of black bears [11].


PALATABILITY : 
Black cherry is moderately palatable to white-tailed deer; they prefer
sugar maple, white ash, yellow birch, yellow-poplar, and pin cherry
(Prunus pensylvanica) [37,54].

The fruits are highly palatable to song birds, upland game birds, and
mammals [42,58,59].


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
The twigs of black cherry seedlings and saplings are high in protein.
In Pennsylvania, the protein content of twig sections in mid-April was
about 24 percent for the bud, 15 percent for the terminal 1 inch (2.5
cm) section, and 13 percent the terminal 1 to 2 inch section (2.5-5 cm)
[12].


COVER VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
Black cherry is used for surface mine spoil reclamation in the East.
Best results are obtained by planting 1-year-old or older nursery grown
seedlings.  Direct seeding has generally been unsuccessful.  In
Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma, 30-year-old plantings at 9 sites
averaged 22 percent survival, 5.2 inches d.b.h. (13 cm), and 36 feet (11
m) in height [60].

Methods for collecting, extracting, cleaning, storing, and sowing black
cherry seed to produce nursery grown seedlings are available [21,59].


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
Black cherry bark was used historically in the Appalachians as a cough
remedy, tonic, and sedative.  The fruit was also used to flavor rum and
brandy.  Pitted fruits are edible, and are eaten raw and used in wine
and jelly [39].


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Silviculture:  Black cherry regenerates best under even-aged
silvicultural treatments [39,40,41].  Clearcutting is generally used
where advanced regeneration is abundant.  Shelterwood cuts are used
where seedlings are scarce and provide good conditions for establishment
from soil-stored seed.  Soil scarification following cutting is not
necessary.

Animal damage:  Following timber harvest, black cherry seedlings
generally suffer less browsing damage by deer than associated hardwoods
because they are less palatable [54].  However, black cherry stocking
can be reduced or completely eliminated where deer populations are high.
In some instances, successful regeneration can only be assured where
advanced seedlings are so abundant that deer cannot eat them all [39].
Nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer applications 2 years after harvest
cause black cherry seedlings to quickly outgrow the reach of deer [3].

Competing vegetation:  Competing herbaceous vegetation, such as bracken
fern (Pteridium aquilinium), hayscented fern (Dennstaedtia
punctilobula), whorled wood aster (Aster accuminatus), flat-topped aster
(A. umbellatus), goldenrod (Solidigo rugosa), and wild oatgrass
(Danthonia compressa), are often favored by shelterwood cuts.  These
species inhibit black cherry seed germination and seedling growth
through allelopathy [16,27].  They are effectively controlled with
herbicides which also kill black cherry seedlings.  However, black
cherry seed in the soil is not affected by herbicide treatments, and new
seedlings establish after spraying [37].

Control:  Black cherry under 3 feet (0.9 m) tall is susceptible to
2,4,5-T, but slightly more tolerant of 2,4-D.  Basal bark treatments
with these herbicides kill trees over 10 feet (3 m) tall [44].  Black
cherry is killed by soil treatments of Bromacil, Fenuron, Karbutilate,
and Picloram [9].

Insects and Diseases:  The most serious defoliating insects affecting
black cherry are the eastern tent caterpillar and the cherry scallop
shell moth.  Infestations of these insects are sporadically heavy and
cause growth loss and occasional mortality.  Numerous borers and beetles
cause gum defects but are seldom fatal.  Black knot, a fungal disease
which causes elongated rough black swellings much larger than the stem,
is common in black cherry.  In Pennsylvania, Cytospora leucostoma causes
a canker disease resulting in widespread branch mortality.  Numerous
root and butt rotting fungi have been reported in black cherry; however,
decay generally spreads more slowly in cherry than associated trees.
See Marquis [39] for a complete discussion of insects and diseases of
black cherry.

Wind damage:  Because it is shallow-rooted and has a tendency to overtop
its associates in mixed stands, black cherry is susceptible to windthrow
[39].

Related categories for Species: Prunus serotina | Black Cherry