Leijpark013

@leijpark013 · 22 Oct 2021

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Leijpark013 October 17, 2021 American bird cherry

#leijpark013   #amiricanbirdcherry

Published by Thierry P. Dinjens · October 17 at 6:04 PM ·
Forestry in our country is a process that is constantly moving. Under the influence of the elements, pollution and the demand for wood, forests are constantly changing. This creates bald spots in the forest, as the soil becomes more acidic. This can be due to acid rains, but also because pine needles fall on the ground and thus make the soil more acidic. In these places, a crop that can handle acidic soil and even flourish would not be out of place. This is how the forestry workers thought at the beginning of the 20th century and they seemed to have found the ideal candidate: American bird cherry. This small tree with edible berries can live very well on acidic soil. This resulted in many bald spots forests being filled with American bird cherry. Then it seemed like a good plan. However, later it turned out that this exotic is raging and not only fills forests, but simply takes over. The 'guest' turned out to be a wolf in sheep's clothing. And all of a sudden there came the point where she even had to be fought, and that moment is still going on. This can be done in a variety of ways: cutting off the tree and smearing the stump with pesticide, pulling out the tree with a root and stick, or “peel” the tree. The latter means that at about a meter high the bark is removed. The tree will die in two years.
All of this has not led to the American bird cherry disappearing. On the contrary, much does not seem to inhibit its advance.
What is a plague here is a blessing in country of origin. The cherries are good to eat and were definitely part of the so-called 'pemmican'. This was a source of food for the original inhabitants of America (the Indians) and they took it on their hikes. Pemmican consisted of powder-dried meat, fat and dried fruits. This mixture stays good for months without having to be stored refrigerated. Fur hunters and fur traders found the ideal food they could bring, looking for fur animals such as mink, beavers and martens. They traded skins against pemmican, full of animal proteins and vitamins. Very useful in places where no berries grow, or where they simply disappeared under the snow.
Still, the berries are used to make cherry pie and give rum and brandy that typical cherry flavor.
So a very tasty fruit, you would say. And that is the case, even though it is mostly the birds that think about it. It is therefore also that the American bird cherry spreads so quickly: birds like to eat the cherries, poop the seeds again and hup: a new tree grows there again. In practice, this seems less bad than initially thought. If the American bird cherry is not fought, then over time other tree species and shrubs will regain their place in the forest, making the soil less acidic and pushing back the American bird cherry.
It won't surprise you that the American bird cherry has also raised its head in the Leijpark. That's not a disaster, especially in a park where a rattling of indigenous and alien stuff is already growing together. And if you are suddenly raided by a huge thirst in the Leijpark, suck a few cherries. They are a bit bitter but tremendously thirst quenching. Just make sure you don't eat the kernel, because it's poisonous, but so is the seeds of our own sweet cherry. Avoid the pips at all times; with pips the evil is eating cherry.