Mahaleb Cherry

Prunus mahaleb

“St. Lucie cherry. Fragrant blooms, black fruit, handles drought and limestone.”

Mahaleb — the St. Lucie cherry — is one of the most fragrant-flowering trees you can plant. Masses of small white blossoms in early spring with an intense, sweet scent. The small black cherries that follow are edible, intensely aromatic, used historically for liqueurs and preserves across southern Europe. The wood and seeds have a distinctive coumarin fragrance — used in perfumery and pipe tobacco for centuries. Drought-tolerant, limestone-adapted, unbothered by the conditions that stress most fruit trees. Zone 5–8. An underused ornamental-fruiting tree with serious character.