CHERRY

Botanical Name: Prunus serotina. of the family Rosaceae

Prunus is a genus of 120 to 400 species that contain fruitwoods like cherry, plum and almond. The species are native to North America, Asia, Europe and the Mediterranean region. All species look alike microscopically. The word prunus is the classical Latin name for the cherry tree.

American black cherry is Prunus serotina
European Cherry is Prunus avium

Common Names: American cherry, capulin, black cherry, black wild cherry, cabinet cherry, chisos wild cherry, capollin, capuli, capulin, cerezo, detze, Edwards Plateau cherry, escarpment cherry, ghoto, gila chokecherry, mountain black cherry, muji, plum, rum cherry, southwest choke cherry, southwestern chokecherry, tnunday, wild black cherry, wild cherry, whisky cherry, New England mahogany, xeugua

European cherry is also known as cerisier, English cherry, gean, mazzard, merisier, meurisier, and kers.

The heartwood of cherry varies from rich red to reddish brown and will darken with age and on exposure to light. In contrast, the sapwood is creamy white. The wood has a fine uniform, straight grain, satiny, smooth texture, and may naturally contain brown pith flecks and small gum pockets. Cherry is easy to machine, nails and glues well and when sanded and stained, it produces an excellent smooth finish. It dries fairly quickly with moderately high shrinkage, but is dimensionally stable after kiln-drying. The wood is of medium density with good bending properties, it has low stiffness and medium strength and shock resistance. Common uses for cherry include fine furniture and cabinet making, mouldings and millwork, kitchen cabinets, paneling, flooring, doors, boat interiors, musical instruments, turnings and carvings.