Prunus avium
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Common Name: bird cherry
Type: Tree
Family: Rosaceae
Zone: 3 to 8
Native Range: Europe, northern Africa, southwestern Asia
Height: 15 to 30 feet
Spread: 15 to 30 feet
Bloom Time: April
Bloom Color: White
Bloom Description: White
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Medium
Flowers: Showy Flowers, Fragrant Flowers
Leaves: Good Fall Color
Fruit: Showy Fruit, Edible Fruit
Wildlife: Attracts Birds, Attracts Butterflies
Uses: Flowering Tree, Shade Tree

Culture

Easily grown in average, medium, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade.

Noteworthy Characteristics

Prunus avium is generally grown as an ornamental cherry tree. It is native to Europe and Asia and has been cultivated in the U. S. since colonial times. Although it is a parent of many of the sweet cherry cultivars sold in commerce today for fruit production (such as the popular bing cherry), its fruits are smaller and not as sweet or tasty as the cultivars. It is a deciduous tree that typically grows 20-30’ tall in cultivation, but may reach 60’ in its native habitat. Fragrant white flowers (to 1.5” diameter) appear singly or in 3-5 flowered clusters in spring slightly before the foliage emerges. Flowers are followed by small sweet red to black cherries which ripen in early summer. Oval, dull, dark green leaves (to 6” long) turn yellow in fall. Birds and squirrels love the fruit, and are undoubtedly in part responsible for the naturalization of this tree from gardens into the wild in eastern and midwestern North America. Avium is from the Latin word for bird. Also commonly called mazzard cherry.

Problems

Cherry trees are susceptible to a large number of insect and disease pests. Diseases include bacterial canker, rots, scab, crown gall and powdery mildew. Insect pests include aphids, caterpillars, scale and flies.

Garden Uses

Small to medium-sized ornamental flowering tree for the landscape.

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