Prunus padus L., Bird Cherry

Account Summary

Growth form and preferred habitats

This is a very conspicuous and easily distinguished tree when in flower in May and June due to its long, drooping racemes of 10-40 scented white flowers. When not in flower, P. padus can still be readily distinguished from P. avium by the possession of tufts of white hairs along the mid-rib of many of its leaves. Bird Cherry occurs as a shrub or small tree, suckering and spreading clonally and seeding itself in moist woods in glens and in hedgerows by streams and rivers. It prefers fairly moist to wet, calcareous or base-rich soils, often associating with Fraxinus excelsior (Ash) and Alnus glutinosa (Alder) (Leather 1996).

As a tree, P. padus is decorative and garden worthy and is planted occasionally in public amenity parkland as well as private gardens. Like other cherry species, it sometimes escapes into the wild through birds consuming and transporting the small, black, bitter berries. Noone has attempted to distinguish escaped populations of cultivated forms or varieties in this survey, although it would be a worthwhile exercise for the future.

Fermanagh occurrence

Bird Cherry has been recorded in 46 tetrads in Fermanagh (8.7%), but in nine such squares the only records are pre-1975, indicating a definite local decline in recent years. It is widely scattered across the county, but most frequent and prominent in the N & E.

British and Irish occurrence

In Britain, as one might expect, P. padus is the most northerly of the three native cherry species, although none of them make it to Orkney and Shetland. South of a line between Cardiff and Hull, the New Atlas displays all records except those in E Anglia as introductions; there are also a number of this designation further north, especially around the Firth of Forth. There are clearly problems distinguishing native from introduced populations, a fact that needs to be remembered (Preston et al. 2002). In Ireland, Bird Cherry is described as being, "frequent in the NW and rare and scattered elsewhere" (An Irish Flora 1996), a view strongly reinforced by the New Atlas hectad map. In the FNEI 3, Hackney and his co-workers regarded P. padus as scarce in Co Down (H38) and, indeed, they listed no post-1975 records for the county. However, the species is more frequent, yet still decidedly local, in the other two VCs covered by the Flora, Cos Antrim (H39) and Londonderry (H40).

European and world occurrence

P. padus is the hardiest Prunus species of them all, having both the most northerly and the most widespread Eurasian distribution. Allowing for some variation within the species, its distribution stretches continuously from the shores of the Arctic to the Japanese Pacific and south to the Pyrenees, Alps, Carpathians and the Himalaya (Hultén & Fries 1986, Map 1179).

Toxicity

All parts of P. padus are poisonous, especially the leaves and berries, which contain cyanogenic glycosides that break down when eaten and produce symptoms of cyanide poisoning (Lang 1987). Human poisoning is highly unlikely as the individual berries contain only small quantities of the toxic glycosides and they taste so foul and bitter nobody would consider eating them. One case of animal poisoning by P. padus has been recorded in Britain in 1996; three cows in Scotland died after eating the foliage and flowering shoots which had grown through a netting wire fence (Cooper & Johnson 1998). Prunus padus should be removed, therefore, from any hedge used to contain stock. It is referred to in very derogatory terms by Grigson in his book, The Englishman's Flora (1955, 1987), describing it as, "a useless little tree, with black and wry fruit".

Folk lore

In NE Scotland the wood of the 'Hackberry', as P. padus is called there (derived from the Old Scandinavian 'heggr', giving Hag(berry), Hack(berry) and other similar alternative English common names (see Grigson 1955, 1987) is not used for any purpose, as it is considered a witch's tree (Vickery 1995).

Threats

None.

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