Pin or Fire Cherry is really a northern species that needs cool environments. It often has the American Mountainash as a companion plant. It has a large native range that is mostly in Canada from Newfoundland around the south of Hudson Bay to central British Colombia and some into the Yukon, then spots in the Rocky Mountains down to Colorado, spots in the Dakotas, all around the Great Lakes, New England down the Appalachians to north Georgia. I have only seen this species so far at the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary near Reading, Pennsylvania up on the cliffs near some American Mountainash. It is known as a pioneer tree that first colonizes forest areas that have been cut down or burned over. It grows about 1 to 3 feet/year depending on location and only lives about 40 to 75 years. It is often a small, shrubby tree around 25 feet high, but it does often grow to around 40 feet high with a trunk diameter of 18 to 20 inches in diameter. There are some champion trees to about 80 to 85 feet high. Its narrowish, sharp leaves are about 3 to 4.5 inches long by 3/4 to 1.3 inches wide and turn a good orange or red in autumn.The white cherry flowers are in flat-topped clusters with 5 to 7 flowers per cluster and they smell fragrant. The fruit is a red cherry about 1/2 inch in diameter with an acid taste that is loved by songbirds and small mammals. It does not quite have a taproot, but it does have coarse lateral roots so it is somewhat difficult to transplant.

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