A small, pioneer species around 30 ft. tall with a narrow crown. The seeds can live 100 years underground before germinating due to a disturbance, such as a forest fire.

BUDS: Multiple (in contrast to the single buds of Black cherry), clustered end buds; hairless with pointed bud scales.

BARK: Bright reddish-brown, smooth, thin, often slightly peeling in transverse strips especially towards the base of the trunk. Lenticels are prominent, horizontal smaller branches are red; inner bark is aromatic/bitter.

HABITAT: Burned areas, thickets, and young woods; often growing in stands with aspens and Eastern white pine.

RANGE: West to Colorado, east through British Columbia across Canada to Newfoundland, south to Georgia; to 6000 ft. in the southern Appalachians.

USES: Lumber is used for fuel and pulpwood; acts as a nurse tree, providing cover for the next generation of hardwoods; cherries are used in making jelly.