Cherry: an American tradition for fine furniture.

If the legend holds true, George Washington was a visionary when he chopped down the cherry tree. Cherry has since grown to be one of the most popular furniture woods in U.S. history.

Cherry is considered by many to be in the same class as mahogany. The uses for cherry wood are varied. It is a fine furniture and cabinetry wood, prized for its natural luster and attractive grain. It is also a beautiful carving and turnery wood and is used for sculpture. Cherry is also a popular choice for domestic ware, toys, musical instruments, tobacco pipes, and boat interiors, plus backing blocks for printing plates because of its strength and stability. An excellent veneer, cherry is used for burial caskets, paneling, patterns and gun-stocks.

Prunus serotina, most often known as American black cherry, is a fine furniture wood with a rich warm look well translated into many easily recognized furniture styles. This group of trees' range is wide, growing from Ontario to Florida and from the Dakotas to Texas, extending as far south as Guatemala. The states that lead in the production of cherries for commercial uses include Michigan, Washington, Oregon, Utah, California, New York, Pennsylvania and Idaho.

The largest and virtually only commercially important timber tree of the American species is black cherry. These trees are tall compared with most cherries, growing as high as 100 feet in the southern Appalachians where they thrive. Cherry trees are famous for their wood but also are beautiful, flowering trees. The leaves are oval and shiny green and the white flowers grow in clusters. The name of the tree stems from its fruit, the black cherry, which is one of the least popular products of the tree -- except by birds and other wildlife who thrive on the tiny, bitter, pea-size fruit.

Cherry wood varies in color. The sapwood is creamy pink and is clearly defined from the heartwood. The heartwood is pale-pink brown to a darker red brown, with narrow brown pith flecks. Small gum pockets can cause a problem when the wood is cut. Cherry dries fairly rapidly and has a strong tendency to warp and shrink and with medium movement in service. It exhibits medium bending strengths.

Trees of the species Prunus serotina grow to 40 or 50 feet in 20 years.

International flair

The genus Prunus is not just found in America, though. Cherry trees grow all over Europe and in the mountains of North Africa. Some famous "international" cherries include Prunus avium, which is also called gean, mazzard, cherry, European cherry and common wild cherry and is native to Europe, Asia and North Africa. European and American black cherry compare favorably in many aspects, except that the domestic black cherry is much more plentiful in supply. Both American black cherry and European cherry are strong and tough and are similar in strength to yellow birch. European cherry can grow as tall as 80 to 90 feet at times, with diameters as wide as 15 feet.