Bird cherry (subgenus)

Taxobox
name = Bird cherries

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image_width = 240px
image_caption = "Prunus virginiana"
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Magnoliopsida
ordo = Rosales
familia = Rosaceae
subfamilia = Prunoideae
genus = "Prunus"
subgenus = "Padus"
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision = See text.

The bird cherries are a subgenus of the genus "Prunus", characterised by having deciduous leaves, flowers 12-30 together on slender racemes produced in late spring well after leaf emergence, and small, sour fruit usually only palatable to birds, hence the name. They are native throughout the temperate Northern Hemisphere. Bird cherry is sometimes used as a food plant by Lepidoptera species including Brimstone Moth.

Some bird cherries such as chokecherries are used to make jelly and wine in North America.

Some botanists treat the subgenus as a distinct genus "Padus".

Species

*"Prunus cornuta" - Himalayan Bird Cherry. Himalaya.
*"Prunus cuthbertii" - Cuthbert Cherry. Georgia, United States.
*"Prunus grayana" - Gray's Bird Cherry. Japan.
*"Prunus maackii" - Manchurian Cherry or Amur Chokecherry. Northeast Asia.
*"Prunus padus" - Bird Cherry or European Bird Cherry. Europe and western Asia.
**"Prunus padus" var. "commutata" - Asian Bird Cherry. Eastern Asia.
*"Prunus serotina" - Black Cherry. North America.
*"Prunus ssiori" - Hokkaido Bird Cherry. Japan (Hokkaidō).
*"Prunus virginiana" - Chokecherry. North America.

Trivia

In Finland the blooming of bird cherry ("Prunus padus", Finnish "tuomi") signifies the start of the summer for many people. In Southern Finland this normally takes place during the two last weeks of May or very early June.

References

North Dakota State University agriculture information page. [http://www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/aginfo/trees/handbook/th-3-13.pdf#search='chokecherry']