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Black Mountain Cherry, Rum Cherry

This tree was widely used by the early pioneers. Its bark was made into a cough remedy and the fruit was used as a flavoring extract or mixed with sugar or honey to make pies, jellies, and jams. Do not eat the seeds as they contain highly toxic hydrocyanic acid. Black cherry is food for a variety of wildlife although the foliage is considered to be poisonous to livestock. Black cherry is a very desired wood.

Quick ID:

Simple, alternate leaves with finely toothed (serrate) leaf margins. Look for reddish hairs on mid-vein on the leaf's underside. Bark is striped horizontally with gray lenticels.

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