Winter twig

Fruits

The light green leaves are alternate, 5-10 cm long,  leathery  and with small, sharp teeth on the margin. They are hairless except for tufts of hairs in the axils of the large veins beneath. The leaf-stalks are 10-20 mm long, with a gland on each side at the leaf end.

ID check

Bird cherry is a deciduous tree with a single trunk up to 9 m tall, with a brown bark which peels easily and is strong smelling. It grows on acid soils, in oak and birch woods and scrub up to 610 m above sea level.

The flowers have 5 white, irregularly toothed petals. They open in May and hang in 10-40 flowered spikes.

The flowers have a sickly almond scent.

The flowers develop into small, black cherries 6-8 mm across, each containing a single, hard, oval stone. They are ripe in July.

Facts

• The sickly almond scented flowers attract many insects, particularly bees and flies.

• The fruits like small cherries, are rich in tannin, but despite their bitter taste, are eaten by birds, like robins and thrushes.

• The bark was gathered in the Middle Ages to make an infusion used as a tonic and sedative for stomach pains.