They are ok to eat, but they are basically just a big seed covered with a sweet skin. Not much flesh like the Bing, sour, and Rainier cherries you get at the market. These little wild cherries also have a slight bitterness. If I run into them in the wild, I will nibble on a couple, just to get a taste, but not any nutritional benefit to them. You would need so many of them to make jam or something, that it wouldn't be worth the effort. I don't know if they have any medicinal qualities.

Wild cherries, such as black cherries, can be reasonable if VERY ripe & soft. As Jay says, mostly pit. These are black cherries on my lot and OK if really ripe. If not, they're quite bitter.

are we all talking about prunus serotina?

the birds plant them everywhere.. in pre-fertilized form ... in my yard anyway ..

ken

Is this the same as Chokecherry ?

Chokecherry is the same as pin cherry, Prunus pensylvanica, What species the poster shows above is, I don't know. There's also a chokeberry, which is Aronia. None of these really have palatable fruit for people -- too bitter. The "edible" cherries are European & Asian.