Prunus avium
Specifications
Family
Rosaceae
Species
Prunus avium (L.) L.
wild cherry
Description
The heartwood is pinkish-brown and the sapwood tends toward yellowish. The grain is straight, the texture is fine, and the density ranges from 0.55 to 0.80 with an average of 0.62. During seasoning, it often twists and cracks and is not very durable. When treated with limewater, it takes on a bright red color.
Plant morphology
A deciduous tree, it can reach 15–30 m in height and 1.5 m in diameter. The bark is smooth, purple-brown with prominent horizontal gray-brown lenticels that darken and thicken with age. The leaves are simple, alternate, ovoid, acute, glabrous, and pale to bright green on the upper surface. The flowers, which appear in corymbs in early spring just before leaf out, have five white petals, yellow stamens, and a superior ovary. The fruit is a drupe 1–2 cm in diameter (larger in some cultivated varieties), bright red to purple when ripe.
Natural occurrence
Countries of origin and distribution
Northwestern and Central Europe, Asia Minor, N-Africa and a small population in the Caucasus.
Habitat and ecology
It lives between 700 and 2,000 m above sea level, in mixed broadleaf or shrub forests, forest edges, riparian zones or wetlands with deep soil.
Uses
Use class
CU1
CU2
CU3
CU4
CU5
Application areas
It is used for furniture, boxes, scientific instruments.
Threats and Conservation
Threats
Not reported.
Conservation measures
This species is listed in 123 ex situ collections (BGCI 2017) and is included in the EURISCO germplasm bank.
IUCN Red List
IUCN
LC - Least Concern - Low Risk
CITES. Year of assessment
CITES
2017
1975
2050
CITES Italia • Ultimo aggiornamento
2017
Not present.
Technical data
Aesthetic characteristics
Grain
Obvious
Texture
Fine, Medium
Physical and mechanical properties
Density
ρ
ρ
620
kg/m3
Radial shrinkage
Rad. sh.
Rad. sh.
51
MPa
Tangential shrinkage
Tang. sh.
Tang. sh.
84
MPa
Bending strength
M.O.R.
M.O.R.
95
MPa
Modulus of Elasticity
M.O.E.
M.O.E.
10200
MPa
Durability characteristics
Fungal resistance
Not durable
Insect resistance
Not resistant
Miscellaneous
Leaves, branches and seeds are toxic, as they produce cyanogenic glucoside.