I'm pretty sure this is a Prunus serotina, but would appreciate some confirmation. I've never seen cherries on it. It's growing right behind my fence, so I think I would have noticed...and I would have lots of volunteers in my yard if it did!
I did some homework and think this is a match for the leaves: "Black cherry is characterized by having alternate simple leaves, 2-6 inches long, uniformly wide to lance-shaped, pointed at the tip, and with fine teeth which curve inward towards the tip of the leaf. The upper surface of the leaf is dark green and shiny; the lower surface is paler in color." http://www.extension.iastate.edu/forestry/iowa_trees/trees/black_cherry.html
It is growing in the shade of several tall trees. These photos were taken from 10-14 May. Sorry, they didn't load in the right order.
Is this a Prunus serotina?
Looks like Black Cherry to me.
Are the flowers fragrant?
Yep, Black Cherry for me too.
Resin
Thanks all. I can't remember whether there was a fragrance or not, so if there was one it must not have been very strong.
I'll keep my eyes open for cherries and try to beat the birds to a ripe one if there are any!
Wow, those are strange. Good camera work though Muddy, you brought those d@mn bugs right into my house!
Ha ha ha....I'll see if I can get a photo of them hatching, or whatever it is that they do, and send them crawling into your house!
I read that Black Cherry supports 456 different species of moths and butterflies, but I think something else is inside there.
Get a little gurney, strap the patient down and slice him open with your little scalpel, just to see who's hiding in there.
There are eriophyid mites that cause spindle galls, such as you have shown. I have seen them on Sugar Maple - caused by Vasates aceriscrumena.
There are also apids, beetles, caterpillars, sawflies, midges, mites, psyllids, and wasps that engage in gall making on various species of plants. A search including Galls on Cherries should yield, uh, fruit...
ha ha ha ha!!!
I did indeed find fruit, in the form of this interesting article that explains why I've been seeing little pale blue butterflies all over the place. http://northernwoodlands.org/outside_story/article/horton-hears-a-what
They're Spring Azures, here to lay eggs that will turn into caterpillars that will eat those galls.
Isn't nature amazing!?
It sure is! I've been trying to get a photo of those Spring Azures, but they're very fast. I saw one resting on a leaf but it wouldn't let me get within 3 feet of it.
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