Bird cherry (subgenus)

The bird cherries are a subgenus of the genus Prunus, characterised by having deciduous leaves, flowers 12-30 together on slender racemes produced in late spring well after leaf emergence, and small, sour fruit usually only palatable to birds, hence the name. They are native throughout the temperate Northern Hemisphere.

Bird cherry is sometimes used as a food plant by Lepidoptera species including brimstone moth.

Some bird cherries, such as chokecherries, are used to make jelly and wine in North America.

Some botanists treat the subgenus as a distinct genus Padus.

Species

• Prunus cornuta - Himalayan bird cherry, Himalaya
• Prunus cuthbertii - Cuthbert cherry, Georgia, United States
• Prunus grayana - Gray's bird cherry, Japan
• Prunus maackii - Manchurian cherry or Amur chokecherry, northeast Asia
• Prunus padus - bird cherry or European bird cherry, Europe and western Asia
  • Prunus padus var. commutata - Asian bird cherry, eastern Asia
• Prunus serotina - black cherry, North America
• Prunus ssiori - Hokkaido bird cherry, (Hokkaidō)
• Prunus virginiana - chokecherry, North America

Culture

In Finland, the blooming of bird cherry (Prunus padus, Finnish tuomi) signifies the start of the summer for many people. In southern Finland, this normally takes place during the two last weeks of May or very early June.

References

North Dakota State University agriculture information page about Prunus virginiana [1]