Black Ornamential Cherries with Red Leaves

Four small black cherries on a branch, on the left, showing some red serrated leaves from the tree, and a brick sidewalk to the right

Jun 27th, 2011, by Alex Zorach

This photo shows black cherries from an ornamental cherry tree with dark red leaves. Many ornamental cherries have fruit that is edible, and sometimes even pleasant, but rather small. These cherries are not only small, but practically inedible. They are extremely astringent, much like chokecherries, rendering them unpleasant to eat. This tree is purely ornamental in function.

This particular tree was planted on the east side of 43rd street in West Philadelphia, adjacent to the south end of Clark Park.