Prunus padus, known asbird cherry,hackberry (unrelated to the genusCeltis),hagberry, orMayday tree, is aflowering plant in therose family. It is a species ofcherry, adeciduous smalltree or largeshrub up to 16 metres (52 ft) tall. It is the type species of the subgenusPadus, which haveflowers inracemes. It is native tonorthern Europe andnorthern andnortheast Asia and is grown as anornamental in North America.^[3]

Prunus padus
Bird cherry flowers
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Rosales
Family:	Rosaceae
Genus:	Prunus
Subgenus:	Prunussubg. Padus
Species:	P. padus
Binomial name
Prunus padus L.
Distribution map
Synonyms[2]
List Cerasus padus(L.) Delarbre Cerasus racemosaGray Druparia padus(L.) Clairv. Padus aviumMill. Padus racemosaC.K.Schneid. Prunus padus var.genuinaAsch & Graebn. Prunus padus ssp.racemosaDomin Prunus racemosaLam.

Prunus padus is native to Morocco and temperate Eurasia from the British Isles to Japan.^[2] Its distribution includes all Western and Central Europe north of thePyrenees and theAlps and south of thetreeline with small pockets also found inIberia andNorthern Italy and even parts ofNorth Africa. It also inhabits all ofEastern Europe north of theBalkan Mountains and theSteppe, as well as in theCaucasus. In Asia it is found throughout the forests ofSiberia,Mongolia,the Russian Far East,Korea,Hokkaido, and parts of China with pockets in theHimalayas. It is an invasive species in Alaska, prompting efforts at eradication.^[4][5]

The fruit isastringent due to itstannin content.^[6]

There are two varieties:

• European bird cherryPrunus padus var.padus, Europe and western Asia.
• Asian bird cherryPrunus padus var.commutata, eastern Asia.

The flowers arehermaphroditic and pollinated by bees and flies. The fruit is readily eaten bybirds, which do not perceive astringency as unpleasant.^{[citation needed]}

In Eurasia, thebird-cherry ermine moth (Yponomeuta evonymella) uses bird-cherry as its host plant, and the larvae can eat single trees leafless.^{[citation needed]}

In North America the tree is often attacked by theblack knot fungus.^{[citation needed]}

Theglycosidesprulaurasin andamygdalin, which can be poisonous to some mammals, are present in some parts ofP. padus, including the leaves, stems and fruits.^[7]

The fruit of this tree is seldom used in western Europe, but, long ago, may possibly have been used as a food far to the east.^{[citation needed]}

In Russia the fruit of the tree is still used for culinary purposes. The dried berries are milled into a flour of variable fineness that forms the principal ingredient of bird-cherry cake. The flour is brown, and so is the cake, even though there is no chocolate in it. Both flour and cake are sold in local stores and bakeries. In a more conventional method of preparation, fresh bird cherries may also be minced and cooked to make jam.^{[citation needed]}

The variety commutata is sold as an ornamental tree in North America under the common name Mayday. It is valued for its hardiness and spring display of fragrant, white flowers.^[8] The common name Mayday tree refers to theMay Day festival, being unrelated to thedistress signal mayday. The name for the tree was in use prior to the adoption of "mayday" (the phonetic equivalent of the Frenchm'aider – fromvenez m'aider, "come [and] help me") as an international distress signal.^[9]

According toHerodotus (writing some 2500 years ago) a strange race called theArgippaeans, all bald from birth, who lived in an area identifiable possibly as the foothills of theUrals, would pick the bean-sized fruits of a tree called "pontic" and squeeze from them a drinkable black juice, making afterwards, from the residue of the pressing, a type of cake. This juice and the "cakes" produced in its manufacture were, according to Herodotus (who derived his account from the reports ofScythian traders), the main sustenance of the "bald people". Furthermore, according to A. D. Godley (translator of an edition of the works of Herodotus published in the early 1920s) it was said that theCossacks not only made a similar juice fromPrunus padus, but also called it by a name similar to the one (aschu) by which the bald Argippeans called theirs.^[10] As might well be expected of so cherry-loving a race, the Argippeans – a just and kindly people – took good care of their trees, protecting them from the harsh winters of their homeland – seemingly by incorporating them (as a central pole symbolising theaxis mundi) into theyurt-like felt tents in which they lived:

They dwell each man under a tree, covering it in winter with a whitefelt cloth, but using no felt in summer. These people are wronged by no man, for they are said to be sacred; nor have they any weapon of war. These are they who judge in the quarrels between their neighbours; moreover, whatever banished man has taken refuge with them is wronged by none.

— Herodotus,Ἱστορίαι (The Histories) Book IV, Chapter 23

InFinland andSweden, the blooming of bird cherry (Finnishtuomi, Swedishhägg) signifies the start of the summer for many people. In southern Finland, this normally takes place during the two last weeks of May or very early June.^{[citation needed]}

Ukrainian songCheremshyna refers to a blooming of bird cherry.^{[citation needed]}

A taboo on the use of the wood of the hackberry (or hagberry) was reported by natives ofAdvie, in northeast Scotland, who believed it to be a "witches' tree".^[11]

The tree was used medicinally during the Middle Ages,^{[clarification needed]} during which period it was also believed that the bark of the tree, placed at the door, would ward offplague.^{[clarification needed]}

The Mayday tree is abundant as an introduced species in Anchorage, Alaska, having been planted in great numbers by landscapers and homeowners. It displaces native trees and is harmful to moose and to young salmon.^[12]

• Taphrina padi – A pocket plum gall that occurs on bird cherry

• "Prunus padus".Plants for a Future.
• Prunus padus - information, genetic conservation units and related resources.European Forest Genetic Resources Programme (EUFORGEN)