Black Cherry vs Gray Dogwood

Black Cherry is common in eastern North America but a rare find elsewhere. This tree is shade tolerant and is often found in old fields, forest openings, and along fencerows.

The fruit is edible and is commonly used to flavor rum and brandy. It is also edible and often eaten fresh or used in wine or jelly. Black Cherry trees typically begin producing fruit when they are 10 years of age.

Black Cherry wood is a rich reddish-brown color and is strong, making it valued in cabinetry and woodworking. It is often used in reclamation as well.

The leaves can poison livestock as they contain cyanide derivatives and precursors. However, many have noted that deer still seem to browse their trees with impunity and birds and other animals eat the fruit when available.

Gray dogwood is a thicket-forming, deciduous shrub with greenish-white blossoms in open, terminal clusters. Young twigs are red and the fruit pedicels remain conspicuously red into late fall and early winter.

Fruit itself is a white, 1/4 in. drupe that usually does not remain on the shrub for long.

Great for naturalizing wild areas, this shrub attracts birds and other wildlife.

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