The black cherry (Prunus serotina), also called wild black cherry or rum cherry, is a large native North American tree that bears small, intensely aromatic dark cherries in long drooping clusters. Too bitter and astringent to enjoy by the handful, its fruit is the source of the deep, almond-tinged "black cherry" flavour behind sodas, cordials, liqueurs, jellies and pies — a flavour quite distinct from the sweet and sour orchard cherries of Europe.