Sour cherry
Prunus cerasus
A shrubby, suckering cherry reaching about six metres, with stiff, glossy dark green leaves and small clusters of white flowers in April. The fruit is round, 1.5–2 cm across, bright to deep red and soft when ripe, but sharply acid: 'Morello' types have dark flesh and red juice, 'Amarelle' types paler flesh and clear juice. Rarely eaten raw, it cooks well into pies, preserves and cordials, and is the cherry behind kirsch and cherry brandy.
Not native to Britain or Ireland but long planted for fruit and widely naturalised. Found in hedgerows, old orchard edges, scrub, railway banks and rough ground, where root suckers often form dense thickets. Scattered through lowland England, thinner north and west.
The flesh is edible but sharply acid raw and is normally cooked. The stones contain cyanogenic amygdalin, so do not crush or chew them, and avoid infusions of leaves or twigs. Cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus), widely planted as hedging, also bears small dark fruit, but on thick evergreen leaves and in upright spikes rather than on long single stalks. Many trees are garden or roadside plantings, so check access before picking.
Always use more than one reference to confirm a plant. You are responsible for what you choose to forage.
Habit
A large shrub or low tree to about 6 m, usually with several stems and root suckers forming a thicket around the parent. Wild cherry (Prunus avium) makes a single tall trunk to 25 m and does not sucker.
Leaves
Small, 5–8 cm, rather thick and stiff, glossy dark green above and held out firmly. Wild cherry's leaves are larger, dull, softer and hang downwards, often with a reddish tinge to the stalk.
Flowers
White, 2–2.5 cm across, in small stalked clusters of two to five opening in April with or just before the leaves. Clusters arise from a single point, never in the elongated spikes of bird cherry.
Fruit and stalk
Round, 1.5–2 cm, bright to deep red, on a long slender stalk with two or three fruit sharing the same bud. Dark 'Morello' types stain the fingers red; paler 'Amarelle' types have clear juice.
Taste
Sharply acid even when fully coloured and soft — the sweetness of a dessert cherry never develops. A cherry that eats sweet straight from the tree is not this one.
Updated 2026-08-08T11:01:31.205Z · Part of the shared Foragers Log catalogue · Fruit