Chokecherry

Prunus virginiana

Rosaceae

• Keystone plant
• Spokane Native
• Sun-Shade
• Size: 15’ x 30’
• Berries: purple/red cherries
• Drought Tolerant: somewhat
• Evergreen: no
• Flower Color: white
• Wildlife Value: Provides food to birds, Host to silkmoth and butterflies

Chokecherry is a large multi-stemmed deciduous shrub or small understory tree and is among the most widespread woody plants in North America.  It occurs in remarkably diverse habitats from streambanks and moist mountain canyons to dry hillside thickets, canyon slopes, forest edges, clearings, and roadsides, from sea level to subalpine elevations. The plant forms thickets through vigorous suckering from spreading underground rhizomes, creating dense colonies 15-30 feet tall (occasionally taller) with irregular rounded to oval crowns spreading 10-20 feet. Young bark is smooth and gray or reddish with distinctive horizontal lenticels (pores), while mature bark becomes darker and furrowed. The glossy simple leaves are 3-4 inches long with finely serrated margins, turning yellow to orange-red in fall. From April to July (depending on latitude and elevation), the shrub produces spectacular showy elongated flower clusters 3-6 inches long of fragrant five-petaled white flowers with a distinctive almond-like scent, attracting early-season pollinators including bees, flies, and butterflies. The flowers are somewhat self-fertile but fruit production increases significantly when multiple shrubs are present. By August-September the flowers mature into abundant pea-sized dark red drupes that ripen to dark purple-black, providing critical late-summer food when many other fruits have been depleted. The fruits are notably astringent when raw or immature—causing the characteristic puckering "choking" sensation that gives the plant its common name—but become sweeter after cooking or frost.  

KEYSTONE SPECIES - Prunus hosts 381-419 butterfly and moth species including specialists. Primary larval host for Coral Hairstreak butterfly, Large Lace-Border moth (twig-mimic caterpillar), Red-Spotted Purple, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Canadian Tiger Swallowtail, Striped Hairstreak butterflies. Hosts 10 species of giant silk moths including Cecropia, Polyphemus, Imperial, Io, and Columbia Silkmoth. Host plant for specialist native bee Andrena fenningeri. Fruits consumed by 30+ bird species—critical late-summer food source (July-September) when other fruits depleted: American Robin, Cedar Waxwing, thrushes, grosbeaks, jays, woodpeckers, chickadees, bluebirds, Wild Turkey, Mourning Dove, grouse, waterfowl. Extensively browsed by mammals: moose, elk, mule deer, white-tailed deer, mountain sheep, bighorn sheep, pronghorn, black bears, grizzly bears, coyotes, foxes, raccoons, opossums, skunks, squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits. Dense thicket-forming habit provides exceptional thermal cover, nesting sites, and protective shelter for birds and small mammals—ideal for shelterbelts and windbreaks. Moderately to highly palatable browse for wildlife and livestock (though toxic to ruminants when wilted/frosted—see caution below). Provides watershed protection, erosion control, and species diversity in riparian and upland habitats. Supports beneficial pest-eating insects. Early almond-scented flowers provide critical nectar and pollen for emerging spring pollinators.

Chokecherry holds PROFOUND cultural and nutritional significance among Indigenous peoples—for many tribes of the Northern Rockies, Northern Plains, and boreal forest regions of Canada and the United States, chokecherries are THE MOST IMPORTANT FRUIT in traditional diets. The fruit was consumed fresh (after frost when sweeter), dried for winter storage, cooked into jellies/jams/syrups/sauces, fermented into wines, processed into juice, and made into fruit leather. Most significantly, whole cherries (including pulp, skin, and pits) were pulverized in mortars into a paste, shaped into patties or balls (approximately 6 inches diameter, ¾ inch thick), and sun-dried for winter use—this preparation was essential to PEMMICAN, the staple traditional food combining dried berries with dried meat and animal fat. The antioxidant polyphenols in chokecherries helped preserve meat and prevent fat from becoming rancid. Plains Indians consumed chokecherries in pemmican and in wasna (mixture of dried berries and meat). Tribes including Cheyenne, Yankton, Blackfeet, Lakota Sioux, Omaha, Pawnee, and Ponca prepared fruit for ceremonial foods. Blackfeet used juice as special drink honoring husbands or children; Lakota made tea from leaves for Sun Dance ceremonies; Blackfeet poked roasting meat with chokecherry sticks to add flavor. The species was introduced into American medicine in 1787 and appeared in U.S. Pharmacopoeia from 1820 to 1970, still listed as pharmaceutical flavor agent. Medicinal uses were extensive and pan-tribal: bark and roots made into sedatives, blood-fortifying tonics, appetite stimulants, astringent remedies, expectorants, and antispasmodics. Bark infusions treated coughs, tuberculosis, pneumonia, whooping cough, malaria, colds, fevers, pleurisy, sore throats, stomachaches, diarrhea, dysentery, intestinal worms, debility, hectic fever, irritative dyspepsia, and nervous system irritability. Root bark concoctions warded off colds and stomach maladies. Bark resin treated sore eyes. Cheyenne pulverized immature berries for diarrhea/dysentery. Leaves and twigs steeped for teas treating colds and rheumatism. Bark applied as rinse on burns and open sores. Recent phytochemical research demonstrates chokecherries are rich in antioxidants, anthocyanins, phenolic acids, proanthocyanidins, and carotenoids with potential to reduce diabetic microvascular complications and strongly inhibit inflammation. Inner bark used in ceremonial kinnikinnick smoking mixtures (along with Red-osier Dogwood and alder). Wood used for bows, arrow shafts, tepee stakes, cooking utensils, digging sticks, hoops, prayer sticks, and baskets. Sap made into glue. Sap mixed with colored clays for paint. Great Basin peoples made red dye from fruit and red-brown dye from inner bark. Modern uses include jams, jellies, syrups, wines, spirits, and cough syrups. 

Chokecherry is outstanding for wildlife gardens, pollinator gardens, naturalized areas, windbreaks (excellent for outer rows of multi-row plantings), shelterbelts, hedgerows, erosion control, streambank stabilization, riparian restoration, thicket plantings, and large-scale revegetation projects. The dense rhizomatous root mat provides exceptional erosion control on slopes, gullies, and disturbed sites. The vigorous suckering habit creates thickets that provide thermal cover and protective habitat—ideal for large wildlife corridors but potentially too aggressive for small formal gardens (manage spread by mowing suckers or mechanical removal). Remarkably adaptable and resilient under variable growing conditions: tolerates full sun to considerable shade (greater shade tolerance than other native cherries—can be included in woodland landscapes), grows in rich moist soils along streams or dry rocky hillsides, adapts to sandy/loamy/clay/limestone-based soils, circumneutral to alkaline pH, moderate to high calcium carbonate. Tolerates drought once established (deep roots), heat, wind, cold (Zone 2—Arctic hardy), urban conditions, road salt, and seasonal flooding (though intolerant of prolonged flooding or poor drainage). NOT tolerant of soil compaction or air pollution. Moderate growth rate of 12-24 inches per year. Fragrant almond-scented spring flowers provide multi-season ornamental interest along with late-summer dark fruits and golden-yellow to orange fall color. Requires minimal maintenance once established. Plant with Rocky Mountain Maple, Saskatoon Serviceberry, Red-flowering Currant, Snowberry, native Roses, Oceanspray, Ninebark, Elderberry, Mockorange, native Willows, Red-osier Dogwood, Redstem Ceanothus, bunchgrasses. 

CAUTION: Pits, leaves, and bark contain cyanogenic glycoside prunasin (produces hydrocyanic acid). Ripe FLESH is edible when cooked; pits must be removed or cooked thoroughly. Foliage is TOXIC to cattle, goats, sheep, horses, and other ruminant livestock, especially when wilted (after frost/broken branches)—toxicity highest spring/summer, leaves non-toxic by time fruits mature. Children have been poisoned by eating large quantities of whole berries with seeds. Birds are NOT affected by toxins. Plant responsibly away from livestock areas.