Prunus padus - Bird Cherry

General Information Common Name  Bird Cherry Scientific Name  Prunus padus Sun Tolerance  Full Sun Height  6-9 m (20 - 30 ft) Spread  4.5 -6 m (15 - 20 ft) Growth Rate  Fast Bloom Time  Early Summer Color  Green Flower Color  White Type  Tree Native  Europe, USA

Classification Kingdom  Plantae – Plants Subkingdom  Tracheobionta – Vascular plants Superdivision Spermatophyta – Seed plants Division  Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants Class  Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons Subclass  Rosidae Order/  Rosales Family  Rosaceae – Rose family Genus  Prunus L. – cherry Species  P. padus

Prunus padus - Bird Cherry

Prunus padus common name is Bird Cherry. This is a small slender cherry tree, sometime only a bush is particularly at home along stream sides in the Scottish Highlands. But it is mainly native to northern Europe and northern Asia. The crown is rounded, The upper branches ascending steeply, the lower spreading and even dropping.

The winter buds are stout, shiny, sharply pointed, and often bent, their scales vary in color from yellow to dark brown. The young shoots turn olive-green and eventually dark brown. The 2-3 inch long leaves are elliptical with finely toothed margins and are dull green on top and pale green below.

Prunus padus - Bird Cherry

There are up to forty small, white, bi-sexual, self-fertile flowers, which open in May, in each drooping or spreading spike-like raceme. The fruit (a cherry) changes from green to black, is shiny, up to half an inch in diameter and harsh and bitter to the tested, it ripens in August, and is relished by birds.

The bark is dark brown, and remains smooth, but is not shiny. The bands of orange-colored lenticels are much shorter than those on Gean (P. avium). The bark peels, and like the sappy wood has an unpleasant smell of bitter almonds. The sapwood is white and the heartwood dark purplish-brown.

Bird Cherry seems to spread more by suckering than from seed, though seedlings are extremely hardy and easily raised. It has produced several varieties and distinct geographical forms but as found growing wild in Europe does not vary greatly.

Bird Cherry Full Blooms

Prunus padus - Bird Cherry : Young Plant

Leaf of Bird Cherry

Prunus padus - Bird Cherry : Leaves

Flowers of Bird Cherry

Prunus padus - Bird Cherry Flowers

Prunus padus Flowers

Fruits of  Bird Cherry

Prunus padus Fruits

 Bird Cherry Bark

Logs of  Bird Cherry

Prunus padus - Bird Cherry

Prunus padus - Bird Cherry

Prunus avium - Wild Cherry - Gean

General Information Common Name  Wild Cherry, Sweet Cherry, Gean Scientific Name  Prunus avium Sun Tolerance  Full Sun Height  6-9 m (20 - 30 ft) Spread  4.5 -6 m (15 - 20 ft) Growth Rate  Fast Bloom Time  Early Summer Color  Green Flower Color  White Type  Tree Native  Europe, USA

Classification Kingdom  Plantae – Plants Subkingdom  Tracheobionta – Vascular plants Superdivision Spermatophyta – Seed plants Division  Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants Class  Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons Subclass  Rosidae Order/  Rosales Family  Rosaceae – Rose family Genus  Prunus L. – cherry Species  P. avium

Prunus avium - Wild Cherry

Prunus avium common name is Wild Cherry also known as Sweet Cherry or Gean. It is to be found sparingly in mixed woodlands as a moderate-sized tree, or occasionally as a tall tree of open habit, the lower branches spreading but the remainder ascending steeply.

The twigs are greyish-brown, and the winter buds are alternate, brown, and pointed on short spur shoots. The pale green, 2 – 3 inch long elliptical leaves, which droop somewhat on fairly long stalks, have finely toothed margins and are without hairs on the upper surface, but downy below. They turn brilliant crimson in autumn. 

The white, sweetly scented, bi-sexual, self-sterile flowers, with long, slender stalks, are cup-shaped and borne in clusters (umbels) of from two to six in April-May.

The fruit (a cherry) is small and shiny, changing from green through bright red to purple when ripe in July, the taste is sweet or bitter, never acid.

The bark is grey or reddish-brown, smooth and shiny, ringed with orange-colored lenticels, and peels horizontally in thin strips. In older trees the lower bark becomes rough and furrowed. The attractive wood is golden or even greenish-brown, rather heavy, tough and hard. It is a good furniture timber, and is prized as a turnery wood for such items as bowls.

Foresters value Gen as an amenity tree, particularly on the edges of plantations. It suckers freely and it coppices when cut.

Wild Cherry Full Tree

Young Plant of Wild Cherry

Prunus avium - Wild Cherry : Leaves

Prunus avium Leaves

Wild Cherry Flowers

Sweet Cherry Flowers

Prunus avium Flowers

Prunus avium - Wild Cherry Flowers

Wild Cherry Green Fruits

Sweet Cherry Fruits

Wild Cherry Fruits

Prunus avium Fruits

Prunus avium Bark

Prunus avium Log

Beauties of Prunus avium - Wild Cherry

Populus alba – White Poplar – Abele

General Information Common Name  White Poplar, Abele Scientific Name  Populus alba Sun Tolerance  Full Sun Height  16-27 m (50 - 90 ft) Spread  6 -12 m (20 - 40 ft) Growth Rate  Fast Bloom Time  Late Spring Color  Green Flower Color  Yellow Type  Tree Native  Europe

Classification Kingdom  Plantae – Plants Subkingdom  Tracheobionta – Vascular plants Superdivision Spermatophyta – Seed plants Division  Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants Class  Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons Subclass  Dilleniidae Order/  Salicales Family  Salicaceae – Willow family Genus  Populus L. – cottonwood Species  P. alba

Populus alba Full Tree

Populus alba common name is White Poplar also known as Abele. It is an attractive ornamental Poplar tree, handsome by reason of its pale bark and the glistening undersides of its quivering leaves. It was introduced in about 1548, and an old English name is ‘Abele’, evolved from the Latin alba, white. The young round shoots are at first white from their dense covering of matted, woolly down. The winter buds are covered like-wise. 

The leaves on the short shoots are small and variable in shape, the margins being dentate or shallowly lobed and having a few blunt, more or less triangular teeth. Most of these early leaves are as broad as, or even broader than, their length, and the upper surface is deep green, and somewhat hairy, the lower surface is at first white from the thick down, but soon becomes grey. The even more downy leaves on the long summer shoots and suckers are larger, up to 4 inches across, and palmately lobed, with the lobes bearing a few bluntly triangular teeth. The leaf-stalks on all the leaves are round or slightly flattened, and downy. 

The male pendent catkins, which open in early May, are some 2 or 3 inches long and have crimson anthers, the female catkins are rather shorter. Male and female trees are rarely found together, so fertile seed is seldom produced. Cuttings and suckers are the best means of propagation.

The attractive smooth and greyish-white bark has a greenish tinge and only slowly becomes black and roughened at the base. The tree is of no economic value but many people appreciate its decorative attractions, particularly its silvery appearance in spring and the contrast of the white and golden leaves in autumn. It is a good seaside tree. White Poplar is much confused with the possibly native Grey Poplar, P. canescens Sm., which grows faster, has a better shape, and reaches a larger size.

White Poplar Leaves

Populus alba Leaves Both Sides

Populus alba Flower With Cotton

White Poplar's White Cotton

Populus alba Bark

White Poplar Bark

Populus alba Bark

Populus alba Bark

Populus alba Full Trunk

White Poplar's Seeds whit Cotton

Populus alba Full Tree

White Poplar Full Tree