Prunus serotina, Ehrh.

Form.—Height 60-100 feet, diameter 2-5 feet; trunk when in close stands tall and straight, bearing a rather open irregularly-oblong crown.

Leaves.—Alternate, simple, lanceolate-oblong, taper-pointed, 2-5 inches long, thickish, serrate-crenate, with incurved teeth, smooth, dark green above, paler beneath.

Flowers.—May-June; perfect; ¼ inch wide, white arranged in drooping many-flowered racemes.

Fruit.—Matures in late summer and persists for two or three months; a nearly black drupe, in drooping clusters, one-third-½ inch thick, with purplish juicy slightly bitter edible flesh.

Bark.—On old trunks roughened by thick, blackish, irregular plates; inner bark aromatic, bitter.

Wood.—Light, strong, close-grained, light reddish brown, with thin yellowish sapwood.

Range.—Nova Scotia to Florida, west to Dakota and Arizona.

Distribution in West Virginia.—A common timber tree in the more mountainous parts of the State; once plentiful on rich soils of upland flats and stream valleys of Tucker, Randolph, Barbour, Webster, Nicholas, Pocahontas, Greenbrier, and Monroe counties. Smaller and less common in most other sections.

Habitat.—Thrives best in rich, loose soils of slopes and mountain flats.

Notes.—This tree, which is usually called Wild Cherry, produces excellent lumber for furniture, and interior finish. It can be distinguished from the Choke Cherry, which it most closely resembles, by its larger size, longer narrower leaves, and rougher bark. Wild cherry trees large enough for lumber are now becoming scarce.