Prunus padus L., SE: Hägg, DE: Echte Traubenkirsche,
NL: Gewone vogelkers, UK: Bird cherry, Hagberry tree

Scientific name:		Prunus padus L.
Synonym name:		Cerasus padus (L.) Delarbre
Swedish name:		Hägg
German name:		Echte Traubenkirsche
Nederlandse naam:		Gewone vogelkers
English name:		Bird cherry, Hagberry tree
Family:		Rosaceae, Rosväxter

Life form:		Deciduous small tree or large shrub
Stems:		strong tannin-smelling, dark grey-brown bark, shoots shiny, dark brown, sometimes with fine down, sometimes glabrous, bud tightly appressed, sharply pointed, conic-ovoid, dark brown at base, pale at tip.
Leaves:		6-10cm long, oval in shape; dark green above and paler below; the margin (edge) has many fine teeth like a saw; slightly tough and leathery.
Flowers:		5 white, irregularly toothed petals. Grow in a spike containing up to 35 almond-scented flowers.
Flowering Period:		May, June
Fruits:		Ripen in July-Augus, red at first, changing to a very dark purple/black. Edible, but very bitter and the stone is poisonous.
Habitat:		Foliage meadows, moist forests, often in forest swamps.

Derivation of the botanical name: Prunus, Latin prūnus, Greek προῦνον prounon; plum tree. padus, the Latin name for the Po, large river in northern Italy, a name of Celtic origin. Cerasus, κερασοϛ, a cherry. The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy. The standard author abbreviation Delarbre is used to indicate Antoine Delarbre (1724 - 1813), author "Flore d'Auvergne".