Prunus virginiana, commonly called bitter-berry, chokecherry, Virginia bird cherry and western chokecherry, is a species of bird cherry native to North America; the natural historic range of P. virginiana includes most of Canada, most of the United States and northern Mexico.
Description
Chokecherry is a suckering shrub or small tree growing to tall, rarely to. The leaves are oval, long and wide, with a serratedmargin. The flowers are produced in racemes long in late spring. They are across. The fruits are about in diameter, range in color from bright red to black, and possess a very astringent taste, being both somewhat sour and somewhat bitter. They get darker and marginally sweeter as they ripen.
Characteristics
Chokecherries are very high in antioxidantpigment compounds, such as anthocyanins. They share this property with chokeberries, further contributing to confusion. ;Varieties
Prunus virginiana var. virginiana
Prunus virginiana var. demissa Torr.
Prunus virginiana var. melanocarpa Sarg.
The wild chokecherry is often considered a pest, as it is a host for the tent caterpillar, a threat to other fruit plants. However, there are more appreciated cultivars of the chokecherry. 'Canada Red' or 'Schubert' has leaves that mature to purple and turn orange and red in the autumn. 'Goertz' has a nonastringent, and therefore palatable, fruit. Research at the University of Saskatchewan seeks to find and create new cultivars to increase production and processing. The chokecherry is closely related to the black cherry of eastern North America; it is most readily distinguished from that by its smaller size, smaller leaves, and sometimes red ripe fruit. The chokecherry leaf has a finely serrated margin and is dark green above with a paler underside, while the black cherry leaf has numerous blunt edges along its margin and is dark green and smooth. The name chokecherry is also used for the related Manchurian cherry or Amur chokecherry.
Food use
For many Native American tribes of the Northern Rockies, Northern Plains, and boreal forest region of Canada and the United States, chokecherries are the most important fruit in their traditional diets and are part of pemmican, a staple traditional food. The bark of chokecherry root is made into an -textured concoction used to ward off or treat colds, fever and stomach maladies by Native Americans. The inner bark of the chokecherry, as well as red osier dogwood, or alder, is also used by some tribes in ceremonial smoking mixtures, known as kinnikinnick. The chokecherry fruit can be used to make jam or syrup, but the bitter nature of the fruit requires sugar to sweeten the preserves. Sacagawea was eating choke cherries when she was discovered by Lewis and Clark. The Plains Indians pound up the whole fruits—including the toxic pits—into a mortar, from which they made sun-baked cakes. The stone of the fruit is poisonous. Chokecherry is toxic to horses, moose, cattle, goats, deer, and other animals with segmented stomachs, especially after the leaves have wilted because wilting releases cyanide and makes the plant sweet. About 10–20 lbs of foliage can be fatal. Symptoms of a horse that has been poisoned include heavy breathing, agitation, and weakness. The leaves of the chokecherry serve as food for caterpillars of various Lepidoptera. See List of Lepidoptera which feed on Prunus. In 2007, Governor John Hoeven signed a bill naming the chokecherry the official fruit of the state of North Dakota, in part because its remains have been found at more archeological sites in the Dakotas than anywhere else. Chokecherry is also used to craft wine in the western United States, mainly in the Dakotas and Utah, as well as in Manitoba, Canada.
