// SPECIES PROFILE · TREE · NATIVE

Black Cherry

Prunus serotina

Black cherry is a top-tier ecological powerhouse — Doug Tallamy ranks it among the top five woody plants in eastern North America for supporting native insect biomass. Long pendulous racemes of white spring flowers ripen to dark cherries that birds devour.

// QUICK FACTS

Family: Rosaceae
Group: tree
Native range: E. & C. North America incl. all of OK
USDA hardiness: Zones 3–9
Mature size: 60–80 ft
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Adapts widely
Wildlife value: ~30 bird species eat the fruit; host to ~450 lepidoptera incl. tiger swallowtail, cecropia
Ecological role: wildlife magnet · fragrant spring flowers · cabinet wood

Black Cherry (Prunus serotina) — *Prunus serotina*. Photo via Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons.

Field Notes

[ growing · ecology · siting · care ]

Wood is the rich red-brown cabinetry classic. Caution: wilted leaves contain cyanogenic glycosides toxic to livestock — fence cattle out of hedgerows. Otherwise easy, widely adaptable, fast-growing.

Why it's on this list: wildlife magnet · fragrant spring flowers · cabinet wood. Part of Rooted Revival's NE Oklahoma plant catalog — natives, ecologically positive non-invasive cultivars, and food crops worth growing in the Tulsa region.

Companion Planting

[ guild · polyculture · cross-layer pairings ]

In a shaded woodland understory, black cherry pairs naturally with: american beautyberry (Callicarpa americana), crossvine (Bignonia capreolata), american alumroot (Heuchera americana), inland sea oats (Chasmanthium latifolium), cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus), and downy serviceberry (Amelanchier arborea).

black cherry works best as a canopy or sub-canopy partner above the herbaceous and shrub layers.

Black Cherry

Field Notes

Companion Planting

Photo Reference