94 



Common Trees 



FIRE CHERRY 



Prunus pennsylvanica, Linnaeus 



The Fire Cherry, also called Wild Red Cherry, Bird 

 Cherry, and Pin Cherry, is a small tree seldom more 

 than 30 feet high and 12 inches in diameter. 



The leaves are alternate, sometimes paired but never oppo- 

 site each other. They are simple, 3 to 5 inches long and % 

 to \% inches wide, finely toothed along margin, bright 

 green and shiny on upper surface and paler below. The 

 flowers appear about 

 May, when leaves are 

 partly developed. 

 They are white, 

 about Yi inch across 

 and arranged in 4 to 

 5 -flowered clusters. 

 The fruit is a round 

 juicy, light-red berry, 

 about 34 of an inch 

 in diameter. The 

 skin is thick and the 

 flesh sour. It ripens 

 in July-August. The 

 bark on young 

 trunks is reddish- 

 brown, rather 

 smooth, marked by 

 large horizontally 

 elongated light - col- 

 ored breathing pores 

 (lenticels) . The out- 

 er bark peels off in 

 thin layers and ex- 

 poses the green bitter 

 inner bark. The 

 twigs are slender, 

 smooth, and bright- 

 red. They are marked 

 with numerous pale 

 to yellowish breathing pores, have a bitter taste and peculiar 

 odor. The wood is light, soft, with light brown heartwood. 



The Fire Cherry is found from Newfoundland, British 

 Columbia southward to Georgia, Tennessee and Colorado. 

 York it is common north of the coastal region, but is gener- 

 ally absent above 3,500 feet in the Adirondacks. The tree 

 is common along fences, in abandoned fields and rocky woods, 

 particularly on cut-over and burned-over areas. It is a short- 

 lived tree of little commercial importance. It furnishes food 

 for birds and other wild animals. 



FIRE CHERRY 



