Description
Black cherry (also regionally called wild cherry) is commonly found across the east of the continent. They host more than 450 butterfly and moth species, such as the eastern tiger swallowtail and the viceroy, and their fruit feeds mammals and songbirds alike. Indigenous nations have been gathering food and medicine from these trees for millennia, and settlers famously commodified the bark to make into cough syrup.
These fast-growing trees can reach 50 to 80 feet in height, and tolerate most any soils. While they are known as a pioneer species, they also make up a key component of the climax hemlock-hardwood forest type, primarily composed of hemlock, sugar maple, black cherry, and beech.
