How do you recognise Wild cherry (Prunus avium)?

Leaf

Mathieu MENAND, Tela Botanica · CC BY-SA 2.0

Wild cherry

Prunus avium (L.) L.

Also known as: Gean, Sweet cherry, Mazzard

Family: Rosaceae

15 to 25 m tall

Open woodland, woodland edges, rich soils

Flowering: April, before or with the leaves

Part shade

Full sun

-20°C

❓ How do you recognise this plant?

Smooth red-brown bark that peels off in thin horizontal bands, like paper. St Lucie cherry has smaller, finely toothed leaves that are fragrant when crushed, and greyish bark that does not peel, unlike the large simple leaves and reddish-brown bark of wild cherry, which peels in horizontal bands.

🍃 Leaves

Ovate, toothed, tapering tip, two reddish glands at the base of the leaf blade

🌸 Flowers

Large white flowers in small clusters, very abundant

🍎 Fruits

Small dark red to black cherries, bitter

🪵 Bark

Glossy reddish-brown, peeling in horizontal bands

🗺️ Distribution

Europe, western Asia; common in France in woods and hedgerows, ancestor of cultivated cherries

🐝 Value for pollinators

Early, abundant white blossom, very rich in nectar, an important nectar source in early spring

✂️ Horticultural uses

Planted as a specimen tree for its blossom and valuable timber, used in forestry (wild cherry)

⚠️ Possible toxicity

Leaves, bark and stones contain cyanogenic glycosides, toxic if swallowed in large quantity; the flesh of the fruit is harmless

⚠️ Look-alike species

Wild cherry

Prunus avium

Mahaleb cherry

Prunus mahaleb

St Lucie cherry has smaller, finely toothed leaves that are fragrant when crushed, and greyish bark that does not peel, unlike the large simple leaves and reddish-brown bark of wild cherry, which peels in horizontal bands.

Wild cherry

Prunus avium

Japanese cherry

Prunus serrulata

Wild cherry has single white flowers with five petals, whereas cultivated Japanese cherries most often have double, pink, very full flowers.

Wild cherry

Prunus avium

Sour cherry

Prunus cerasus

Wild cherry has sweet fruit and a straighter, more slender trunk; sour cherry stays more bushy, with sour fruit.

Wild cherry

Prunus avium

Bird cherry

Prunus padus

Wild cherry bears its flowers and fruit in small clusters or corymbs, whereas bird cherry (Prunus padus) holds them in long drooping racemes 10 to 15 cm long — the two share fairly similar brownish-grey bark and ovate toothed leaves.

🌿 Other Rosaceae to discover

ℹ️ Educational profile — do not use it to judge whether a plant is edible or safe.

🌱 This database is constantly evolving — species and information are added and corrected regularly. Spotted a mistake? Report it below.