Prunus serotina aka Black Cherry

Prunus serotina, also known as black cherry, wild black cherry, rum cherry, or mountain black cherry, is a deciduous tree or shrub that belongs to the genus Prunus. Despite its name, it is not closely related to commonly cultivated cherries like sweet cherry or sour cherry. Instead, it belongs to Prunus subg. Padus, which also includes chokecherry and Eurasian bird cherry. Black cherry is a medium-sized, fast-growing forest tree that can reach up to 80 feet in height. Its leaves are ovate-lanceolate in shape, with finely toothed margins and yellow to red fall color. The tree produces small, white, 5-petalled flowers in racemes that grow up to 6 inches long and contain several dozen flowers. The flowers give rise to reddish-black drupes that are 5-10 mm in diameter and are fed on by birds. The bark of a black cherry tree is thin and smooth during its first decade, resembling birch, but becomes very broken, dark grey to black in mature trees. The leaves are long and shiny, with an almond-like odor released when a young twig is scratched. This odor reveals minute amounts of cyanide compounds produced and stored by the plant as a defense mechanism against herbivores. Black chokecherry, which is a relative of Prunus serotina, is a rare houseplant that needs regular watering and direct light to thrive. It prefers soil that is good at retaining moisture and should be less than 1 foot from a window. Black chokecherry is native to North America and extremely dangerous if consumed.