Grows fast, dies fast, in my experience.

Pretty nice specimen though, good size and shape.

They get a lot bigger than that. As for the shape it looks like it has two competing main trunks that could have formed a weak point down near the ground - where it is going to split later.

I think these trees can actually live well past 100 years.

If you want to keep it you may need to have an arborist cable it together.

Trees can live with two trunks for hundreds of years, that don't necessarily have to be a problem

Thanks for all your help. Any thought on the age of the tree? My subdivision was put in 30 years ago but it may be a volunteer tree. Are the berries edible?

These trees grow VERY fast! I doubt you would like the flavor of the cherries. They are for the birds. I have one that is about 5 years old and it is now touching the powerlines over it. It will have to come down soon.

30 yrs is not unreasonable for its age. For my black cherries, they are bitter, but if you wait until they're overripe (black & dull, not shiny), some trees like mine have passably sweet fruit w/very strong flavor. Shown below:

For the OP. Please make sure you are absolutely certain of the id of any Prunus with similar looking fruit, before you sample it. Get the botanical name, not a common name, as the latter are sometimes applied to several different plants. Some are not only unpalatable but poisonous e.g. Prunus laurocerasus aka Cherry Laurel. I have just stopped an American tourist in my local park from trying some Cherry Laurel berries.

Agree with floral. Get a positive id.

Wild black cherries are edible. However... the seeds, the bark, any wood, the leaves... and well, pretty much every other part of the plant except the flesh of the cherries are toxic.

Like many prunus trees, the wild cherry produces a compound that turns to cyanide during digestion. Cattle and domestic animals die every year from eating leaves... especially drying leaves.

That said, and now that you are sufficiently warned, the flesh of the fruit of wild cherries are delicious. They are indeed tart, and although some people love it, fresh off the tree they are almost unpalatable for that tartness. To make some of the best concoctions you ever tasted though, just add sugar.

My favorite use is syrup. Use it like any other syrup. As soon as you taste it, you'll be reminded of the cough syrup you were given as a child. It is extremely versatile.

Straight, it does make a good, non-medicated cough syrup. It's good over pancakes, waffles, ice cream, as a glaze for meats - such as pork, added to stir frys for a touch of sweetness and mystery flavor. It can be added to carbonated water to make black cherry soda, iced tea for a refreshing sweetness, and even fermented into wine. Add it to milk for a shake or for smoothies, and even blended with your homemade ice cream ingredients. You are only limited by your imagination. Oh, and would make a good jam.

Be careful when separating the flesh from the seeds of black cherry. I don't use metal utensils because scratching the pits will expose the flesh to the toxic compounds, and these things are all pit lol.

In short, exercise caution, but with a positive id, and a little work, you can have a very nice summertime treat.

Supposedly the longest lived cherry in North America, they are recommended as a tee for birds, and are highly salt tolerant. Valuable wood. Considered somewhat of a weed tree.

Funny how this very species gets treated here on this board. For one, black cherry lumber is among the most prized of all wood types for high-end uses like furniture, paneling, trim, gun stocks, etc. On the other hand, many seem to associate it with negative aspects. Me, I like the tree. It has interesting bark, it grows in association with other trees I very much like, things like sugar maple, hemlock, yellow birch, etc. BTW, and this may be badly out of date, but when I was in school, a prof told us that there was one and only one county in all of the US where black cherry was both common enough and of sufficient quality to be a commercially harvested species, that being somewhere in Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, my low, swampy woods has a handful of these things but I'd never write home about them. I think down in that low pocket, they get more screwed with by late frosts, etc. Finally, in a less-than-optimal site, all manner of pathogens prey on all Prunus, this one included.

+oM

Along one of my parent's property lines is a brushy section with what my father calls "weed trees" and black cherry. I think a bunch of them ended up getting cleared out, and some sort of maple seems to be taking over there. After my parents lost a lot of trees I went to an RI webpage too look for salt tolerant trees that are good for wildlife. Black cherry was recommended.

I think a lot of people assume any tree that grows naturally is bad. I've noticed people on this board desperately trying to get rid of trees that others were desperately trying to get to grow in their yard.

rgreen48, how do you make cherry syrup?

Tom, in extreme west MD (Swallow Falls State Park), there is second-growth but quite old forests -- 110' - 130' canopy. Only a few dominant canopy species -- eastern hemlock, white pine, tuliptree, and --- black cherry. I was quite surprised about the cherry....

Yes Beng, that's the species mix I'm talking about (or was that another thread, lol). At any rate, that is what I do like about P/ serotina-its associates in the woods, and the bark patterns.

+oM

beng12... first, I know it's redundant but please bear with me as I reiterate the caution of a positive id. In my area, for example, the time for ripe black cherry is long past.

Ok, that said... making cherry syrup couldn't be easier. Simply gather as many as you can. Remember, the seeds are toxic, so remove the pits from the flesh without scratching the seeds in the process. This is the toughest part, basically it's getting your hands messy. I have found no shortcuts. Although next year, I hope to try something that I read on these forums involving a plastic mixer attachment then straining through a sieve.

Once you have your 'goop' of flesh and juice, just add it to a simple syrup recipe. The amounts of ingredients will depend on how many cherries you've mashed. I suggest making a few batches of plain, simple syrup before you try the cherry. A basic recipe is 2 parts sugar to 1 part water. Just put a cup of water on the stove top, mix in 2 cups sugar, bring to a boil, then lower the heat to keep a simmer - low boil. Stir as often as needed until the syrup is clear. At first it won't look like it will clear, but it will. Usually it takes less than 5 mins.

Another recipe calls for 5 cups sugar, and 3 cups cold water, combine and slowly bring to a boil, stirring often. This one was given by Alton Brown for his Iced Tea sweetener. In this one for example, he adds lemon slices and fresh mint for flavor. You can even buy maple, or many other flavors found near the vanilla extract in your supermarket spice aisle, and make any flavor of syrup you wish.

The idea of making it before hand is to learn the consistency of syrup so that when you add the black cherries, regardless of how many you've gathered, you'll know how much to add to the simple syrup.

You can ask about preserving the syrup through canning over at the Harvest Forum, but the fresh syrup should be refrigerated and it will last a few weeks to a month. To increase fresh shelf life, just add a little vodka, not enough to taste or make 'alcoholic', but just enough to act as a preservative. I think Brown's recipes on the web give specific amounts.

If you made real soda, you could bottle that and preserve it that way. Oh, in rereading my first comment, I made it sound like you can make jam from the syrup, well, black cherries can be used to make jam, but get a real recipe for jam or jelly. I mis-phrased that tagged-on comment.