Prunus padus

Prunus padus, known as bird cherry, hackberry, hagberry, or Mayday tree, is a flowering plant in the rose family. It is a species of cherry, a deciduous small tree or large shrub up to 16 metres (52 ft) tall. It is the type species of the subgenus Padus, which have flowers in racemes. It is native to northern Europe and northern and northeast Asia, and is grown as an ornamental in North America. Prunus padus is native to Morocco and temperate Eurasia from the British Isles to Japan. Its distribution includes all Western and Central Europe north of the Pyrenees and the Alps and south of the treeline with small pockets also found in Iberia and Northern Italy and even parts of North Africa. It also inhabits all of Eastern Europe north of the Balkan Mountains and the Steppe, as well as in the Caucasus. In Asia it is found throughout the forests of Siberia, the Russian Far East, Korea, Hokkaido, and parts of China with pockets in the Himalayas It is an invasive species in Alaska, prompting efforts at eradication. The fruit is astringent due to its tannin content. There are two varieties: European bird cherry Prunus padus var. padus, Europe and western Asia. Asian bird cherry Prunus padus var. commutata, eastern Asia. The flowers are hermaphroditic and pollinated by bees and flies. The fruit is readily eaten by birds, which do not perceive astringency as unpleasant. In Eurasia, the bird-cherry ermine moth (Yponomeuta evonymella) uses bird-cherry as its host plant, and the larvae can eat single trees leafless. In North America the tree is often attacked by the black knot fungus. The glycosides prulaurasin and amygdalin, which can be poisonous to some mammals, are present in some parts of P. padus, including the leaves, stems and fruits. The fruit of this tree is seldom used in western Europe, but, long ago, may possibly have been used as a staple food far to the east. In Russia the fruit of the tree is still used for culinary purposes. The dried berries are milled into a flour of variable fineness that fo...