CHOKECHERRY

Prunus virginiana

Rose Family (Rosaceae)

Chokecherry is widely distributed throughout North America and is a familiar plant to many people because of its edible fruits. It has many attractive features, including lush, deep green foliage, fissured gray bark, and a fine floral display in late spring, with pendant spikes of fragrant, cream-colored blossoms. These are followed by the chokecherry fruits in elongate clusters. The fruits are dark red-purple and rather astringent, but they have an intense cherry flavor. They are much prized by birds, making chokecherry a great plant for a wildlife-friendly landscape. Another attractive feature is spectacular fall color in shades of red and orange. Chokecherry grows on moister sites in the mountain brush and up into mountain meadows and aspen understory. It benefits from regular summer watering. It can be rather irregular and bushy in form but responds well to shaping. Rocky Mountain maple and western mountain ash make good companion plants.