Species Focus - Bird Cherry (Prunus padus)

A good plant to look out for in May is Bird Cherry, which is when it comes into flower. It has nine Welsh names and in parts of England is called the Mayday Tree. It is native in most of Wales and to the north of Britain and Scotland but has been introduced to Anglesey.

It is a deciduous shrub or small tree with fragrant peeling purplish bark, elliptical leaves 5 – 10cm long with fine, sharp serrations and red glands on the stalk. It has easily distinguishable long erect or usually drooping racemes (clusters of flowers along a central stem) of 10-40 fragrant flowers which have creamy-white toothed petals. Later in the year they produce shiny, black, sour fruit.

In contrast, Wild Cherry (Prunus avium) has clusters of white flowers coming from the same point and the leaves are toothed with obvious ribbed veins.

Bird Cherry is found in moist woodland, hedges and scrub on a wide variety of soils, mostly base-rich but never in very dry or acidic areas. Sometimes it is easy to tell from its location whether the tree has been planted or is native, but not always. Visit the BSBI’s website to see the most detailed distribution data available for this species.

Please submit your records, ideally with photos, to the Cofnod ORS or the LERC Wales App.