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Pin Cherry

Prunus pensylvanica

Pin cherry is a fast, short-lived pioneer that floods burned and cleared land with white bloom, then bright red cherries beloved by birds. Its quick shade nurses the next forest. The tart fruit, usually too sour to eat raw, cooks into traditional pies and jellies — as with other native cherries, the pits and any very bitter fruit contain cyanogenic compounds and shouldn't be eaten.

Family

Rosaceae

Type

tree

Lifespan

perennial

Height

30–30 ft

Spacing

15–25 ft apart

Light

sun

Soil moisture

dry

Soil pH

acidic, neutral

Bloom

April, May, June

Bloom colors

white

Wildlife value

songbirds, butterflies, larval host

Caterpillar hosts

~456 butterfly & moth species

Landscape uses

naturalizing

Native states

CO, CT, DC, GA, IA, IL, IN, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MT, NC, ND, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, SD, TN, VA, VT, WI, WV, WY