Prunus serotina

Prunus serotina
Flowers and leaves
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Rosales
Family:	Rosaceae
Genus:	Prunus
Subgenus:	Prunus subg. Padus
Species:	P. serotina
Binomial name
Prunus serotina Ehrh.
Natural range
Synonyms[2]
Cerasus serotina (Ehrh.) Poit. & Turpin Padus serotina (Ehrh.) Borkh. Prunus serotina f. typica Schwer.

Prunus serotina, commonly called black cherry,^[3] wild black cherry, rum cherry,^[4] or mountain black cherry,^[5] is a deciduous tree or shrub^[6] in the rose family Rosaceae. Despite being called black cherry, it is not very closely related to the commonly cultivated cherries such as sweet cherry (P. avium), sour cherry (P. cerasus) and Japanese flowering cherries (P. serrulata, P. speciosa, P. sargentii, P. incisa, etc.) which belong to Prunus subg. Cerasus. Instead, P. serotina belongs to Prunus subg. Padus, a subgenus also including Eurasian bird cherry (P. padus) and chokecherry (P. virginiana).^[7][8][9] The species is widespread and common in North America and South America.^{[10][11][12][13]}

Black cherry is closely related to the chokecherry (P. virginiana); chokecherry, however, tends to be shorter (a shrub or small tree) and has smaller, less glossy leaves.