I just touched and squished the black colored berries today, and they seem like they produce an oil inside them. They have a seed in the middle. These two trees/bushes I saw today look very similar and were found at a close distance between each other, and are perhaps the same tree. First tree(Found near a dirt road): http://www.flickr.com/photos/76284694@N02/7536533520/in/photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/76284694@N02/7536533178/in/photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/76284694@N02/7536532726/in/photostream Second tree(found on the same dirt road): http://www.flickr.com/photos/76284694@N02/7536532484/in/photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/76284694@N02/7536531982/in/photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/76284694@N02/7536530244/in/photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/76284694@N02/7536529846/in/photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/76284694@N02/7536531492/in/photostream
The first tree has toothed leaves while the second tree does not, so I doubt they are the same species. I believe all Prunus species (including cherry) have toothed leaves. The easiest way to identify a black cherry (IMO) is the bark is very distinctive. Older black cherries have almost black bark that looks like potato chips (google an image) while the younger bark is smoother. Older black cherry trees tend to be very tall. I also should have mentioned that the cherries tend to grow in clusters, not singly. I tasted a black cherry yesterday for the first time (it was the first time I found some on a tree that were ripe, and I could actually reach them due to a storm knocking some large branches down). The cherries are very small (pea sized), in large clusters and SOUR SOUR SOUR. There was also almost no "meat" on the cherry, it was almost all skin. The seed made up most of the cherry. It was disappointing to say the least. There was no way I could have "crushed" the cherry without a vice.
There's a Clarkston in WA. First tree looks like a chokecherry and the second is liable to be a cascara tree.
