Bird cherry, also known as (Prunus padus), is a deciduous species and is native to Great Britain and much of Europe.

You will often find the tree growing in wet forests, streams, and riverbanks. It is closely related to Prunus avium (wild cherry), but they are easy to distinguish between the two.

Identify a bird cherry

A fully developed tree will reach a height of about 25 m. The bark is gray to brown in color and feels smooth but peels with age and the surface becomes rough; it also produces a strange odor, which is unpleasantly bitter. The twigs are dark brown but have light markings; the shoots have small hairs but they fall out with age.

The leaves are egg-shaped and have small hairs on the tufts under the veins. Unlike the wild cherry, the edges of the leaves have sharp grooves and are pointed at the tips, they also have some acorns near the nest from the base of the leaf to the stem.

Cherry trees have hermaphroditic reproductive systems; this means that the male and female counterparts are in the same flower. The flowers are white with five petals and have a strong odor, are around 8-15cm wide and appear during the month of April.

The insects pollinate the flowers and turn into black to dark red cherries. Unlike the wild cherry, the bird cherry does not sprout from the base.

Interesting fact: some people in parts of Yorkshire call bird cherry ‘wild lilac’ because of its spikes of white flowers that appear in spring.

Bird Cherry Wildlife

The wildlife associated with the bird cherry is similar to that of the wild cherry, the flowers are a good source of pollen and nectar for small insects and bees, the cherries are eaten by birds of many species, including the song thrush and also mammals such as the wood mouse, badger and dormouse.

The caterpillars of many moth species eat foliage, including sulfur, short-capped moth, and garden ermine. On the contrary, the leaves are poisonous to livestock, especially goats.

How we use Bird Cherry

Historically, cherries were grown to produce fruit and wood for the manufacture of vine poles and barrel hoops.

The wood is much lighter and finer in texture than wild cherry.

Threats, pests and diseases

Like most native trees in Britain, the bird cherry is vulnerable to cankers that can disfigure a tree and usually kill it. If you prune the tree at the wrong time of year, it can cause silver leaf disease, which turns the leaves silver and can also kill the tree if left untreated. The black cherry fly is another pest that can cause regressive death.