We have several of these trees around our property. In the spring the trees had small white flowers that smelled sweet. Now the trees have strings of small red berries. I have not opened any of the berries. My husband grew up in the area and says they look like what he remembers as choke cherries.
This looks like Prunus serotina (black cherry tree) to me. If so the cherries a very bitter and mostly seed, but make the best jelly of any fruit on Earth. Edit: A pic showing more of the tree itself would probably provide more certainty in my guess.
Leaves too wide for black cherry. Tree is chokecherry or similar bird cherry (Prunus padus). These last are told apart on the basis of specific anatomical features. Bird cherry is naturalized some places, otherwise the widespread North American cherry with this appearance is chokecherry.
Can't really get a picture of tree that would be useful. The tree is crowded in with others so you can't really see the tree itself. If this is choke cherry, can the berries be eaten?
I think you are probably right. It's easy to get perspective, scale, and color balance off in a picture. I have no experience with chokecherry. I wonder how similar the jelly is.
They'll be good for making jelly - the astringence of the raw fruit is lost in cooking up with lots of sugar. Wait until the cherries are fully red before harvesting.
Bailey (1949) describes the leaves of P. serotina as oblong to oblong-lanceolate to oval, 2-6 in. long, stiff and firm at maturity, acuminate, mostly narrowed at base, serrate with appressed incurved callous teeth, shining above, lighter colored and nearly or quite glabrous beneath The hardness and glossiness of the leaves are key features. In addition to their luster the acuminate shape of the leaves forms a dominating impression when viewing the often large-growing tree.
This is some pics of a P. serotina in my yard. Ripeness peaks here on about the 4th of July, but I would expect it to be a bit later in ND. #2 is of the trunk, but in younger trees it can be a far smoother texture. The leaves do appear to be narrower in these pics.
both jelly and syrup are wonderful. Don't make it too sweet and try the syrup on pancakes with maple syrup together. Mmmmm.
