<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Dan H.:
father ownes a cherry orchard. It doesn't resemble them but it could be </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Cultivated cherries are somewhat different. That looks like a black cherry, also known as wild cherry, rum cherry, etc. Prunus serotina, as Keith mentioned. Common all across the eastern U.S.
Solid, dead branches are fine to use.