Prunus nigra is a deciduous shrub or small tree growing to 10 metres (33 feet) tall with a trunk up to 25 centimetres (10 inches) in diameter, with a low-branched, dense crown of stiff, rigid, branches.

[5] The leaves are alternate, simple, and oblong-ovate or obovate, 5–12 cm (2–4+3⁄4 in) long and 3–7 cm (1+1⁄8–2+3⁄4 in) broad, wedge-shaped, slightly heart-shaped, or rounded at base, doubly crenaulate-serrate, abruptly contracted to a narrow point at the apex, feather-veined, midrib conspicuous; they emerge from the bud convolute, downy, slightly tinged with red, are smooth, becoming bright green above and paler beneath when full grown.

The leaf petioles are stout, bearing two large dark glands and early deciduous, lanceolate, and three to five-lobed stipules.

[5] The flowers are 15–25 mm (5⁄8–1 in) diameter, with five rounded petals, white fading to pale pink, with a more or less irregularly notched margin; they are slightly fragrant, borne in three to four-flowered umbels, with short, thick peduncles, and appear before the leaves in mid to late spring.

[7] It can be found from Nova Scotia west to Minnesota and southeastern Manitoba, and south as far as Connecticut, Illinois, and Iowa.

[7] Isolated populations are present along streambanks in Saskatchewan and Alberta,[11] along Lake Timiskaming in Northern Ontario,[12] and along the Maine-New Brunswick border.

[citation needed] One of the few tree fruits indigenous to the Upper Midwest of the U.S., Northern Ontario and the prairie provinces of Canada and capable of surviving the harsh winters there, efforts were made to breed improved cultivars of these plums in the 19th century.