Which Cherry ??

[IntrepidStu]

This is what Chickenofthewoods had to say about the difference between bird cherry and wild cherry:

"Well, for a start, Bird Cherry (Prunus padus) fruits later than the wild cherry or Gean (Prunus avium). Gean fruits are variable, we have them through from yellowish with a red blush, through to red & deep purple/black. Don't forget that some you come across may be deliberate plantings or garden escapes too.
Bird cherries are indeed black, but are held along a branch like sting or strand whereas wild cherries hang in disinct bunches on long stems eminating from a single point. Have a look at the link for a good set of pics that give you a comparison of flowers & fruit."

From this it would appear that these two trees are both wild cherry
The first 4 pictures below are of the same tree:

And these are from a tree not 50 feet away. It should be said however that these trees are in the gardens of some flats and have been INTENTIONALY planted here.

sorry about the quality.

 

[Toddy]

Okay, I've probably got this properly wrong, but....
The top photos are what I can Geans, and the bottom ones are more like bird cherries but they're the wrong colour, my bird cherries go from green to black, so I'd go with another cherry of some kind.

Geans are just sort of variable small cherries, usually sour, but sometimes you find a tree with gloriously sweet fruit.
The bird cherry grows it's fruit kind of more individually and closer to the branch, it flowers in spikes in Spring a bit like the chestnut does but not all sticking upwards, and the fruits get stretched out along the branch as it grows, the Gean keeps it's fruits more together...........well, that's how I see them.
http://www.brassett.org.uk/trees/prupas.html

Either way, they're edible, if sometimes (usually) not very good eating, try not to eat the pits, full of cyanide, as is the bark. I boiled some up for dye and fumigated the house
My bother says cherry and bark makes good fuel for hardening metal on

cheers,
Toddy

p.s. I'd have a shot of eating the riper ones of that top tree

 

[Staghound]

Just been out to get some shots of what I know as bird cherry (Prunus padus)and found that there's virtually no fruit on the trees this year so these aren't great but.

1. Flowers arranged singly along a long stem on short individual stalks.

2. Unripe fruit (in a normal year there would be a fruit from each of the attachment points)

3. Bark doesn't have the stripes of wild cherry (Prunus avium)

Also the teeth/serrations on the leaves are much smaller on bird cherry

 

[IntrepidStu]

Excellent Staghound, very helpfull, especialy the bark.

Stu.

 

[chickenofthewoods]

Looks good to me, I'd agree that the first set of pics are all classic cherries and the second set are bird cherries.

Because these are in what I call a municipal setting (ie. deliberately planted), the red ones could easily be 'Kentish Cherries', a variety with yellow to red fruits, pale flesh and a sour/sweet flavour.

 

[Spirit fish]

Okay, I've probably got this properly wrong, but....
The top photos are what I can Geans, and the bottom ones are more like bird cherries but they're the wrong colour, my bird cherries go from green to black, so I'd go with another cherry of some kind.

Geans are just sort of variable small cherries, usually sour, but sometimes you find a tree with gloriously sweet fruit.
The bird cherry grows it's fruit kind of more individually and closer to the branch, it flowers in spikes in Spring a bit like the chestnut does but not all sticking upwards, and the fruits get stretched out along the branch as it grows, the Gean keeps it's fruits more together...........well, that's how I see them.
http://www.brassett.org.uk/trees/prupas.html

Either way, they're edible, if sometimes (usually) not very good eating, try not to eat the pits, full of cyanide, as is the bark. I boiled some up for dye and fumigated the house
My bother says cherry and bark makes good fuel for hardening metal on

cheers,
Toddy

p.s. I'd have a shot of eating the riper ones of that top tree

Ray mears makes little cakes with them seeds an all roasted on embers in summer harvest episode

 

[Toddy]

Too much bitter almond (cyanide) in the seed pits in mine for me to be happy eating them.
Sweet cherries are my all time favourite seasonal treat