Fruit and Nut Trees

The Chokeberries are deciduous fruit producing shrubs, native to eastern North America members of the Rosaceae family. They are most commonly found in wet woods and swamps. There are two species distinguished by their fruit color, Red chokeberry, and Black chokeberry.They get their name from the astringency of the fruits which are inedible when raw.

The leaves are simple, alternate, with dark hair like projections on the upper mid surface. Their color turns red in autumn. The flowers are small and produced in bunches of 10-25. The fruit is a small with a very astringent, bitter flavor; it is loved and eaten by birds which then disperse the seeds.

The Red chokeberry, Aronia arbutifolia, grows to 2-4m tall but occasionally reaches up to 5 plus meters. Leaves are 5-8cm long. The flowers are white or pale pink, 1 cm diameter, with glandular sepals. The fruit is red, 4-10mm diameter, persisting into winter.

The Black chokeberry, Aronia melanocarpa, it grows a lot smaller usually 1m tall and rarely 3m. It spreads readily by root sprouts. The leaves are 5cm long; the flowers are white, 1.5cm diameter. The fruit is black, 6-10mm diameter. The two species can hybridize, giving the Purple Chokeberry.

The Purple Chokeberry, aronia x prunifolia. The fruit is dark purple to black, 7-10mm in diameter. It has similar characteristics to parent plants.

The chokeberries make attractive ornamental plants for the garden. They are resistant to disease, insects, drought and pollution. Juice from these berries is astringent and bitterish but high in vitamin C and many antioxidant phytochemicals, especially anthocyanins). Chokeberries with their rich antioxidant content may be beneficial as a dietary preventative preparation for reducing the risk of diseases caused by oxidative stress.

The berries are used to make wine or jam after cooking and to flavor and color beverages. The fruit of the red chokeberry has a sweeter flavor than the other two species.

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