Hello,

This looks like Ganoderma, fungus on your cherry tree. Older, stressed trees tend to develop this.   I suspect that your tree is in decline. Cherries tend to be short ivied trees.   These decay fungi reduce wood strength and may kill storage and conductive tissues in the sapwood. Take care to remove the branches and clean pruning tools afterward with 10:1 water/bleach solution. Assess risk to people and property and remove any risky branches. To remove a branch, follow this diagram from the Extension Service (CA) More information is available in this publication.

http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74109.html

 If the branches are too large or risky for you to remove, or you need the tree to be evaluated for disease and risk, you can find an arborist at www.treesaregood.org by putting your zipcode search box for "find an arborist: