cherries

                                                      Cherries
    

Taxonomy

Rose Family (Rosaceae)

Description

Bush or small tree, 2 m to 5 m tall, and the trunk up to 4 cm wide.

• Leaves: Leaves of choke cherry are dark green above and lighter underneath, 2.5 cm to 7.5 cm long, egg-shaped or broadly oval with a pointed end, and have sharply-toothed edges. Their shape — widest above the middle of the leaf with a short pointed tip — distinguishes the plant from pin cherry, whose leaves are widest below the middle and taper gradually to a point.
• Flowers: Flowers are white, each 1 cm to 1.5 cm across, and hang in dense popsicle-shaped clusters up to 15 cm long (about 35 flowers). Each flower has 5 petals.
• Fruit: Berries are red, ripening to bluish black, less than 1 cm in diameter, and have a fairly large stone. The fruit hangs off the branches in a long, drooping cluster of 6-12 berries.
• The bark of the choke cherry tree is grey-brown or reddish. Bruised twigs give off a bitter odor of almonds. This is the only member of the genus without a grayish coating that wears off.

  Choke cherry buds (in winter) are sharply pointed and 3 to 4 mm long. The bud scales are dark brown with pale edges.