Sweet cherry (Prunus avium) — Plotwright

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Sweet cherry

Habit (mature) · MPF / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.5

Limited coverage

Sweet cherry

Prunus avium

The European wild cherry — also called mazzard or gean — and the parent species behind nearly every sweet cherry cultivar sold for fruit, including Bing. Fragrant white flowers open singly or in 3-5 flowered clusters in spring just before the leaves, followed by small sweet red-to-black cherries in early summer. A deciduous tree of 15-30 feet in cultivation (to 60 feet in the wild); birds and squirrels relish the fruit and have naturalized it from gardens into the wild across eastern and midwestern North America.

Review: Source-backed

Climate fit: moderate (52/100)

Focal point

Structure

Edible

Pollinator

Light

Full sun / Part shade

Water

Moderate water

Mature size

180-360" tall · 240" apart

Hardy in zones

3-8

brutally cold to frosty winters

Summer heat range

Cool-Warm

cool to warm summers Interim Plotwright tier until the plant AHS range is authored.

Native in Illinois

No

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A documented larval host for the Eastern tiger swallowtail and 2 other species — caterpillars feed on its foliage before becoming the next generation.

Wildlife relationships

Cold hardiness

Now

Zone 6b

USDA

Chicago, IL · 1991-2020 average annual coldest day

Source: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023 (1991-2020 climatology) via ArcGIS FeatureServer

Well-suited

2050

Zone 7b

Plotwright

Your zone + climate-model shift · SSP3-7.0 (regional rivalry)

Well-suited

In plain terms: cold winters — coldest nights typically around -3°F.

✓

Well-suited today and still thriving in 2050.

Heat tolerance

°C

°F

Loading current AHS heat-zone and plant heat-fit data at your coordinates…

Where this plant fits

Suitable across 40 ecoregions — 35 climate-resilient through 2070 · 5 suited today. Best matches first.

Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests

Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests

Arizona Mountains forests

Blue Mountains forests

Canadian Aspen forests and parklands

Central Pacific Northwest coastal forests

Central Tallgrass prairie

Central-Southern Cascades Forests

Colorado Rockies forests

Cross-Timbers savanna-woodland

Pollination

Self-incompatible

The wild species Prunus avium is largely self-incompatible — most trees need a compatible, simultaneously blooming Prunus avium pollen partner nearby to set a full crop, and bees do the transfer. Missouri Botanical Garden notes the fragrant April flowers attract butterflies and that the species is the parent of the named sweet-cherry cultivars grown for fruit; many of those cultivars are likewise cross-pollinated, though a few modern selections are self-fertile.

Plants don't grow alone

Larval host

Butterfly

Spring azure (Celastrina ladon)

Larval host

Moth

Polyphemus moth (Antheraea polyphemus)

Larval host

Butterfly

Eastern tiger swallowtail (Papilio glaucus)

NC State Extension documents Prunus avium as a larval host plant for the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus).

Pollinates

Bee

Mason bees (Osmia spp.)

Pollinates

Bee

Leafcutter bees (Megachile spp.)

Nectar forage

Bee

European honeybee (Apis mellifera)

The fragrant April flowers are worked by bees, which carry out the cross-pollination this largely self-incompatible species needs; Missouri Botanical Garden lists the flowers as attracting butterflies.

Pollen forage

Bee

Mining bees (Andrena spp.)

Fruit forage

Bird

Eastern songbirds (multi-species) (multiple species (Passeriformes))

Missouri Botanical Garden notes that birds love the fruit and are in part responsible for the tree naturalizing from gardens into the wild across eastern and midwestern North America; the fruit is listed as Showy and the tree Attracts: Birds.

Shelter / habitat

Bird

Black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)

Shelter / habitat

Bird

Downy woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens)

Shelter / habitat

Beetle

Lady beetles (Coccinellidae)

For people

Parts edible

The ripe cherries are edible and sweet — Prunus avium is the parent of the sweet cherry cultivars (such as Bing) grown for fruit, though the wild fruits are smaller and less sweet (Missouri Botanical Garden). The seeds (pits), leaves, and other non-fruit parts contain cyanogenic glycosides and are poisonous; NC State Extension classifies the plant as medium-severity poisonous. Eat only the ripe flesh and never crush or swallow the pits.

Edible parts

fruit

Toxic parts

seeds, leaves

Sources & citations

Cite this page

For lesson plans, articles, or research that uses this page. To cite a single upstream fact instead, use its specific source listed below.

Plotwright. (2026, May 17). Sweet cherry (Prunus avium). Retrieved 2026, June 5, from https://plotwright.garden/plants/sweet-cherry

Sources for every fact

Every fact on this page traces to a source. 18 fields cited — 18 source-backed.

Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder

Botanical research database

Backs 17 fields

Identity

Summary

Plant type

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Moisture

Hardiness

Heat zone

Size

Spacing

Habit

Design roles

Seasonal interest

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Wikimedia Commons

Photo · CC BY 2.5

Backs 1 field

Image

NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox

University extension service

Community photos

The photos above are our reviewed reference set, curated for accuracy.

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