Rum Cherry (Prunus serotina)
Rum Cherry
(Prunus serotina)
A handsome member of the Prunus family, the rum cherry is made good use of where its a native home plant.
The rum cherry
(Prunus serotina) is an interesting and attractive, potentially large deciduous tree getting to between 10 - 18 m in time from the US. Not closely related to sweet cherries but of the same type as our native bird cherry (Prunus padus) or it's closer cousin the chokecherry (Prunus virginiana) with glossy leaves that yellow in the autumn, and racemes of lovely white flowers mid-spring which are followed by the small to medium sized berries later in the summer of about 8 - 10 cm and sweeter if grown with plenty of sun.
The berries are used cooked in their traditional home for pies etc., and for the flavouring of spirits for a Christmas treat or leave them for the birds who will help themselves anyway...