bitter cherry

Photo: Walter Siegmund (talk) — CC BY 2.5 · source

Survives zone 5 through 9

Harvest calendar

Best planted in early spring after your last frost, or in fall before the ground freezes, depending on your climate.

Fruit is intensely bitter and essentially unpalatable to people — though it's an important food source for songbirds, bears, coyotes, and other wildlife. ⚠ Kernels/pits cyanogenic (seeds contain hydrocyanic acid).

Hardiness

Zone 5–9

Habit

Tree

Edible part

Fruit

Ripens

Summer–autumn

Mature size

Shrub or small tree 2–15 m, depending on form and site

Light

Full sun to partial

Soil pH

6.0–7.0 (near-neutral)

Environment

Temperate

Native range

Native to western North America, from British Columbia, Washington, and western Montana south to southern California and southwestern New Mexico, up to about 2,700 m (9,000 ft) elevation.

Status

Wild

Years to fruit

2–4 yrs

Growth speed

fast

Spacing

600 cm (236 in) apart — about 36 m² (388 sq ft) per plant

Leaf shape

Oval with a rounded tip, thin, finely and unevenly toothed, yellowish-green, 2–8 cm long.

Root system

Wide-spreading and shallow, strongly suckering, extending as far as 15 m from the parent plant.

Fruit description

Small, round drupe 7–14 mm across, red to black, with thick skin and very bitter pulp.

Propagation

Grown from cold-stratified seed, or readily from root cuttings and suckers.

Pollination

Hermaphrodite, insect-pollinated flowers — self-fertility isn't specifically documented for this species

The edible parts listed above are a starting point, not a field guide. Identify a plant with certainty — ideally against a local authority — before eating any part of it, and read the full disclaimer. Spotted something wrong? Report it.