Species
+

Prunus serotina Ehrh.

Black Cherry, Black Chokecherry, Rum Cherry, Rum Cherry (EN)

Climate known 65 photographs Temperate garden plant
Add one to my plants Sow seed

Every figure on this page is derived from public data by a stated rule and says its source; nothing here is written by a person or a model, except the Wikipedia passage, which is quoted and marked as such. How it is made.

Summary

Prunus serotina, commonly called black cherry, wild black cherry, rum cherry, or mountain black cherry, is a New World deciduous tree or shrub in the rose family, Rosaceae. Despite its common names, it is not very closely related to commonly cultivated cherries.

Text from Wikipedia, “Prunus serotina”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written. Kept separate from everything derived here.

About the genus · Prunus

Prunus is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs from the rose family (Rosaceae) that produce stone fruits, or drupes. As of March 2024, the genus has about 340 accepted species, including almonds, apricots, cherries, peaches, and plums. It has a cosmopolitan distribution, being native to the temperate regions of North America, the neotropics of South America, and temperate and tropical regions of Eurasia and Africa.

Text from Wikipedia, “Prunus”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written.

Family
Rosaceae
Described by
Ehrh.
Native to
British Columbia, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia +53
Wild records
506 in range· 90 open

At a glance

Warmest month
28°C
Jul, mean day; nights 19 °C (CHELSA)
Rain
1147mm/yr
12 wet months · peak Jul 112 mm (CHELSA)
Light
11–40DLI
mol/m²/day, winter to summer, open sky (CHELSA shortwave)
In short condensed by rule from the cultivation cards · not written by a person
Grouped as a temperate garden plant by the genus Prunus, which is reliably one kind of plant (archetype table). Rain rule: no season, 70% of the rain takes 8 months (March to September and November in the northern hemisphere). Habitat rain 1147 mm a year, wettest July at 112 mm, driest February at 78 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere). Open sky over the habitat: 11 to 40 mol/m²/day. Cold floor -14.4 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).
Each sentence is one card's own one-line form, written by the same rule as the card (Its year, Rain, Light, Temperature); the note cannot say what a card does not. Months are given for the northern hemisphere (set your site in Settings to change this), and the habitat's own alongside. The cards · the figures.

Also known as Cerasus asplenifolia (G.Kirchn.) K.Koch; Cerasus capollin Ser. ex DC.; Cerasus longifolius Nutt. ex Torr. & A.Gray; Cerasus serotina (Ehrh.) Loisel.; Cerasus serotina (Ehrh.) Poit. & Turpin and 45 more.

Cultivation

Grouped as a temperate garden plant by the genus Prunus, which is reliably one kind of plant (archetype table). The table holds no figure for this group, which spans too much for one minimum; the cold floor is the habitat's alone, and no prose comes from the table.

Its year Rain rule: no season, 70% of the rain takes 8 months (March to September and November in the northern hemisphere).

This species’ habitat figures, and what two fixed rules read from them.

The rain rule reads no season: 70% of the year's rain (807 mm of 1147 mm) takes 8 months, March to September and November. Mean temperature moves 24.2 °C between the warmest and coldest month. Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere; shifted six months for a southern-hemisphere collection: September to March and May.

Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the envelope cells: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve gives a season to reverse. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain Habitat rain 1147 mm a year, wettest July at 112 mm, driest February at 78 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

1147 mm a year at the habitat, 807 mm of it March to September and November. Wettest month July at 112 mm, driest February at 78 mm. Across the envelope cells the year's total runs 893 mm to 1426 mm (10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year) (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the envelope cells. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light Open sky over the habitat: 11 to 40 mol/m²/day.

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Open sky over the habitat: 11 to 40 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 8, the highest 90th-percentile month 41).

CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Warmth and air Cold floor -14.4 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell is -14.4 °C, the absolute minimum -27.1 °C, about 114 frost nights a year (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 35.3 °C. Monthly means: coldest night -4.2 °C in January (across the envelope cells -11.1 °C to 6.5 °C), warmest day 28.2 °C in July (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). Cold floor: -14.4 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell (NASA POWER).

NASA POWER daily minima and maxima 1981–2024 at the typical cell, lapse-corrected to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA. The cold floor is the figure named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 56 to 60% across the year (monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the envelope cells.

The figures the cards read from are in Climate below, and where they came from in Natural habitat.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat climate through the yearMean day from 4 °C in Jan to 28 °C in Jul; mean night from -4 °C in Jan to 19 °C in Jul. The cold quarter, Dec to Feb, is the three months around the coldest night. 1147 mm of rain a year, most in Jul. The bands show the 10th to 90th percentile across 379 habitat cells. Over 44 years at the typical cell the absolute minimum was -27.1 °C and the 99th-percentile day 35.3 °C; neither is dated to a month. Beneath: daily light integral and relative humidity through the year, each on its own scale.-40°-20°20°40°frost35.3° 99th-percentile day (undated)-27.1° lowest night in 44 yrs (undated)°C · day and nightcold quarter050100150200mm rainDLI 11–40RH 56–60 %JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain 10th–90th percentile across 379 habitat cells cold quarter: the three months around the coldest night extremes over 44 years at the typical cell, marked at the edge: undated DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C4 / -3–166 / -1–1811 / 4–2117 / 12–2522 / 18–2826 / 23–3128 / 25–3228 / 24–3224 / 20–3018 / 13–2512 / 7–206 / 0–17
Night °C-4 / -11–7-3 / -10–81 / -5–116 / 2–1412 / 8–1917 / 13–2219 / 16–2419 / 16–2415 / 12–219 / 6–164 / -0–11-2 / -7–8
Rain mm83 / 47–11578 / 46–12698 / 56–13191 / 70–119104 / 78–137110 / 91–155112 / 83–163102 / 79–17099 / 81–13290 / 73–12491 / 59–12489 / 52–130
DLI13 / 11–1919 / 17–2426 / 25–3133 / 31–3837 / 35–4140 / 38–4139 / 37–4134 / 33–3829 / 25–3221 / 17–2614 / 10–2111 / 8–18
RH %59 / 57–6358 / 56–6157 / 55–5956 / 54–5857 / 55–6059 / 57–6259 / 57–6360 / 58–6359 / 57–6258 / 57–6159 / 57–6159 / 57–63

Each figure is the median across the 379 grid cells holding the 487 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. Extremes and elevation were read at the typical cell 998:2085 (40.075, -75.725). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum -27.1 °C, 1st-percentile night -14.4 °C, 99th-percentile day 35.3 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Envelope: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 379 distinct grid cells holding the 487 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 998:2085 (its coldest month's mean night nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 40.00_-75.625, lapse-corrected +26 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 131 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across every in-range record's cell, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeBritish Columbia, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Québec, Colorado, Washington, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Connecticut, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode I., Vermont, West Virginia, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, District of Columbia, Mexico Central, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Gulf, Mexican Pacific Is., Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southwest, Mexico Southeast, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama· introduced: Denmark, Great Britain, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland, France, Spain, Italy, Romania, Yugoslavia, Baltic States, Central European Russia, Ukraine, Burundi, Rwanda, Northern Provinces, Korea, West Himalaya, New South Wales, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
Kew's description“tree” · “temperate”· quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Map marker42.352, -72.7 · in the densest population, 234 records (46% of those in range)
Evidence usedThe map marker and the climate envelope rest on all 506 georeferenced records inside the native range; the map shows only the 90 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 526 km away. 287 records outside the range (gardens, roadsides, misidentifications) ignored. 19 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km and stay on the map but off the climate.
The map markerthe map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population inside the densest 4° block of the 506 in-range records; it decides nothing.

Photographs

Prunus serotinaPrunus serotinaPrunus serotinaPrunus serotinaPrunus serotinaPrunus serotinaPrunus serotinaPrunus serotina

Photographs: (c) Douglas Goldman, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) (5); no rights reserved · CC0 (2); (c) Sandy Wolkenberg, some rights reserved (CC BY).

Photographs: iNaturalist and GBIF media did not answer when this page was built; what is shown came from the sources that did.

Papers naming this species

Works whose title or abstract names Prunus serotina, most cited first, from OpenAlex (CC0). A mention, not a cultivation source: nothing on this page is drawn from them.

Forest Models Defined by Field Measurements: Estimation, Error Analysis and Dynamics
Stephen W. Pacala, Charles D. Canham, John Saponara, John A. Silander (1996) · Ecological Monographs
PRESCRIBED FIRE IN OAK SAVANNA: FIRE FREQUENCY EFFECTS ON STAND STRUCTURE AND DYNAMICS
David W. Peterson, Peter B. Reich (2001) · Ecological Applications
Plant–soil biota interactions and spatial distribution of black cherry in its native and invasive ranges
Kurt O. Reinhart, Alissa Packer, Wim H. van der Putten, Keith Clay (2003) · Ecology Letters
Interspecific variation in susceptibility to windthrow as a function of tree size and storm severity for northern temperate tree species
Charles D. Canham, Michael J. Papaik, Erika F. Latty (2001) · Canadian Journal of Forest Research
Herbaceous‐Layer and Overstory Species in Clear‐cut and Mature Central Appalachian Hardwood Forests
Frank S. Gilliam, Nicole L. Turrill, Mary Beth Adams (1995) · Ecological Applications
Fire Affects Ecophysiology and Community Dynamics of Central Wisconsin Oak Forest Regeneration
Peter B. Reich, Marc D. Abrams, David S. Ellsworth, Eric L. Kruger (1990) · Ecology
Polymorphic DNA Markers in Black Cherry (Prunus serotina) Are Identified Using Sequences from Sweet Cherry, Peach, and Sour Cherry
Suzanne L. Downey, Amy Iezzoni (2000) · Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science
Co‐occurrence based assessment of habitat generalists and specialists: a new approach for the measurement of niche width
Jason D. Fridley, David B. Vandermast, Dane Mitchell Kuppinger, Michael Manthey (2007) · Journal of Ecology

Similar habitat climate the 6 species whose habitat climate is nearest this one's: mean day and night, month by month, and rain on a log scale, in calendar order, so a habitat with the same seasons six months out is far, not near. Nothing else counts: not range, not family.

Other Prunus 29 in the reference

History & registers

Where this page came from built 2026-09-20 · dossier v2 · node
gbif.species answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.synonyms answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.vernacular answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
wcvp.distribution answered
gbif.occurrences answeredGBIF occurrence search API
climate answered
wikidata answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
wikipedia answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20; this build: skipped
inat.taxon not askedcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive)
inat.photos.wild answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20; this build: skipped
inat.photos.cultivated nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
commons nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
gbif.media did not answercarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: api.gbif.org not asked: offline re-derivation
openalex answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20; this build: skipped

Every upstream is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, or refused. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 7 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.