Knowledgebase
Cherry tree #572232
Asked June 20, 2019, 9:27 AM EDT
Multnomah County Oregon
Expert Response
It could be a volunteer cherry from a dropped cherry pit, so it would be hard to identify. Most would be edible, though maybe not as tasty as more cultivated varieties.
The common native cherries to Oregon are the Bitter Cherry and Choke cherry. Bitter Cherry is most easily identified by its reddish brown, or gray bark with horizontal lenticels (raised pores that allow for gas exchange through the bark). The leaves are small, (3-8cm), finely toothed and rounded at the tip. The flowers are white or pinkish in a flat-topped cluster. Bitter Cherry fruits are bright red, about 1 cm in diameter. Chokecherry, P. virginiana, a species that is common on the east side of the Cascades, has long, narrow flower clusters and darker, purple to black cherries. The bitter cherry as the name implies is not particularly edible, however the chokecherry is. Both are terrific wildlife food sources.
Here are some publications you may find useful:
https://landscapeplants.oregonstate.edu/plants/prunus-emarginata
http://nativeplantspnw.com/bitter-cherry-prunus-emarginata/
Hope this helps!