Rosaceae / Prunus Virginiana / Chokecherry

Not sure if there is a fruit that more exemplifies the end of summer for us than these beautiful berries. Although typically growing below 6 m, have plants pushing 10 m and others that seem completely content living their life at human eye-level within a few minutes walk of our homestead.

Often enjoying a riparian habitat, these plants are often growing in thickets close to, but not on, the water’s edge. While they are sometimes seen as high as 3,000m and all the way down to sea level, we tend to find them most prolifically in the mid-elevation ranges.

Quintessentially Prunus, they have gray to reddish-brown bark, marked by horizontal rows of lenticels (raised air pores). The simple, alternate leaves are dark green and oval to elliptic in shape; turning yellow as Autumn approaches. Like many Rosaceae members, the margins are distinctly serrated.

Flowers are perfect (male and female parts) with 5 white petals. Fruits are spherical drupes (stonefruit), arranged in cylindrical racemes 7-15cm long. Maturing from green, to red, to a deep purple; they are a delicacy for animals and humans alike. And, in the words of the great ethnobotanist and dabbling rap artist Tupac, the blacker the berry the sweeter the juice.

Although extremely astringent (hence the choke-moniker), the entire plant is used extensively by humans for both food and medicine. This year, we used the berries for pemmican (a mixture with wild meat and fat), fruit leathers and jellies. For the brave, we also love to eat them right off the plant (semi-dried and very dark is best!). The inner bark was collected and tinctured for respiratory issues. As with many in the Rose family, the seed pits contain cyanogenic glycosides, which are a precursor to cyanide. However, proper processing renders this volatile compound inert.