The Best Can Cows Eat Cherry Tree Leaves Ideas. Curiously, if a cherry tree is chopped, or a branch breaks (perhaps due to a summer storm)—perhaps falling to the ground—the resulting wilted leaves contain a relatively large amount of cyanide and cyanide precursors. The toxic component in the leaves is prussic acid, a hydrogen cyanide toxin that is only formed when glycosides in the leaves are combined with hydrolytic.

The leaves of wild black cherry trees, which are a very common fencerow and woodlot species in southwest michigan, can cause a lethal poisoning risk if grazing animals consume wilted leaves. Cyanide in wilted cherry leaves sickens and kills a cow. Is the bradford pear leaf harmful to cattle such as a cherry leaf in wilt.