Bird cherry is a deciduous small tree or shrub of the Prunus genus in the rose family Rosaceae. In Latin, it is named Prunus padus as a homage to the river Padus in Italy. Its banks have always been abundant in bird cherry. The Slavs invented their name for the tree from looking on the dark color of its bark and berries. The Slavonic for bird cherry is ‘cheryomukha’, and the old Russian word ‘cheryoma’ means ‘swarthy’.
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Bird Cherry
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Bird cherry is distributed in North Africa, Europe, Aisa, and in the Trans-Caucasian region, as well as throughout Russia. The tree loves moderate climate and humid soil. This explains why bird cherry is so often seen on river banks, in the scrubs, as well as on sand, forest edges, and clearings in the woods.
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The tree may grow as tall as 10 meters. Its crown is thick and elongated, and its bark is blackish gray, matte, with whitish buds. It is used for dying textiles and leather green and dark-red.
Bird cherry usually blossoms in May and June. Its smell is very easy to sense at that time of the year. It is tender and sweet, and resembles, only but vaguely, the smell of the rose, acacia, mimosa, with a bit of bitter almond, wild strawberries, and grapes.
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Sergei Yesenin, Konstantin Balmont, Agnia Barto and other Russian poems dedicated many a poem to the fragrant tree.
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‘Now, again the fragrant bird attracts the early bees.
Its blossom lies fluffy as snow on its silver branches’.
One of the best-known poems about this tree is written by Alexei Fatyamov, a military veteran and a poet. In 1955, composer Vasily Solovyov-Sedoy wrote music to those lyrics.
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Bird Cherry. Source: pxhere.com
Bird cherry produces edible fruits which ripen in August and September. First, the berries are green, but with time the skin turns red and then black. The berries are sweet, but very astringent to taste. Bird cherry blossoms abundantly every year, but it does not fruit every year because the freezings in late spring tend to damage the flowers, and the trees are frequently attached by numerous sucking and leaf-eating insects.
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The fruit of this tree is used in many areas. In culinary, the dried berries are ground and turned into flour that serves as an ingredient in bread and buns, or in stuffing for pies. The berries are used for compote or berry starch drink. Bird cherry is known to have medicinal properties and is popular in the alternative folk medicine. For example, its leaves are brewed as a component of herbal teas or medical infusions. Moreover, the tree is frequently planted as a decorative plant in parks, gardens, and recreational areas.
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Kuzebai Gerd National Museum of the Republic of Udmurtia
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Bird Cherry
Dimensions
40x30 cm
Technique
Pressing (herbarization)
Collection
Exhibition
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