Download a plant identification guide for Prunus virginiana (Chokecherry) from Project Budburst.
Download a plant identification guide for Prunus virginiana (Chokecherry) from Project Budburst.
Chokecherry is well adapted to disturbance by fire [5,25,52,97,105,174,177]. Although susceptible to to top-kill by fire, it resprouts rapidly and prolifically from surviving root crowns and rhizomes [51,97,105,162,166]. Several studies reporting chokecherry recovery by sprouting are discussed in the Fire Effects section of this report. Seed germination improves with heat treatment, suggesting scarification by fire is an important adaptation [127]. Postfire regeneration probably also involves the germination of off-site seed dispersed by mammals and birds [162].
FIRE REGIMES:
No data were found for natural intervals of fire in stands that consist mainly of chokecherry. Gartner [52] provides a description of pre and post-settlement accounts of fire in the grasslands and ponderosa forests of the Black Hills of South Dakota. The historical information is detailed, but fire return intervals are not given. Hansen [63] provides limited historical and fire interval information for Minnesota forests in Isle Royale National Park, Itasca State Park, and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. Twenty-six lighting fires were recorded on Isle Royale from 1965 to 1949. In Itasca State Park the incidence of fires caused by lighting or set by Indians before 1859 averaged about one fire every 12 years. In the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, major fires recurred at 5- to 50-year intervals from 1600 to 1920.
FIRE REGIMES for other plant communities in which chokecherry occurs are summarized below. Find fire regime information for the plant communities in which this species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under "Find FIRE REGIMES".
Grazing: Chokecherry is moderately tolerant of browsing [66], but heavy grazing by livestock and wild ungulates has impacted populations in many areas, especially the northern Great Plains [64,65,81,98,179].
Chokecherry foliage can be poisonous to grazing livestock [78,106,116,153]. Research has identified the toxic compound in chokecherry as the cyanogenic glycoside prunasin [101]. One-half gram of prunasin can produce approximately 46 mg of hydrogen cyanide (HCN); daily doses of 50 mg HCN/1 kg body weight are considered dangerous. Hydrogen cyanide is liberated either in the
plant as a result of frost damage or in the animal during digestion.
Results of that study indicated that prunasin concentrations are highest (5%) in the new stems and newly initiated leaves of chokecherry.
Elevated levels (greater than 2.5%) are maintained in the leaves throughout
the summer, but prunasin content of new twigs gradually diminishes over
the season. The previous season's growth is generally not as toxic
(1.2 to 2.2%) [166].
Pest management concerns: Chokecherry can be controlled by herbicides or plowing [116]. In the northeastern United
States chokecherry is a primary host of the eastern tent caterpillar
[164].
Chokecherry is susceptible to attack by the fungus Plowrightia
stansburiana, which causes knotlike cankers to develop on stems. This
condition eventually kills infected stems [92]. Afflicted plants
usually have a shortened life span [166].
Chokecherry has been selected as a revegetation species for wildlife habitat [110,127,166], shelterbelts [131], mine spoils [109], and soil stabilization [102,104,131]. Chokecherry exhibited salt tolerance in a greenhouse study [155].
Chokecherry can be propagated from seed or rhizome cuttings [60,91,102,108,129,134,166]. About half of unstratified seed germinates within 60 days of collection; delayed germination can occur up to 120 days of sowing [166]. More consistent germination is achieved following cool, moist stratification lasting from 120 to 160 days at 36 to 41 degrees Fahrenheit (2.2-5 oC) [60,108,109]. In a heat-treatment field study, using thermocouples inserted into seedcoats, chokecherry germination was doubled to quadrupled by temperatures ranging from 180 to 280 degrees Fahrenheit (82-138 oC)[127].
Nursery-grown seedlings of chokecherry establish satisfactorily if planted free of competition on sites with at least 15 inches (38 cm) of annual precipitation. Young plants are not tolerant of competing vegetation for 2 to 3 years following planting [110].
Prunus virginiana, commonly called bitter-berry,[3] chokecherry,[3] Virginia bird cherry,[3] and western chokecherry[3] (also black chokecherry for P. virginiana var. demissa),[3] is a species of bird cherry (Prunus subgenus Padus) native to North America.
Chokecherry is a suckering shrub or small tree growing to 1–6 metres (3 feet 3 inches – 19 feet 8 inches) tall, rarely to 10 m (33 ft) and exceptionally 18 m (60 ft) with a trunk as thick as 30 centimetres (12 in).[4] The leaves are oval, 2.5–10 centimetres (1–4 inches) long and 1.2–5 cm (1⁄2–2 in) wide, with a serrated margin.[5] The stems rarely exceed 2 cm (3⁄4 in) in length.[6]
The flowers are produced in racemes 4–11 cm (1+1⁄2–4+1⁄4 in) long in late spring (well after leaf emergence), eventually growing up to 15 cm.[4] They are 1⁄3–1⁄2 inch (8.47–12.70 millimetres) across.[7][8]
The fruits (drupes) are about 6–14 mm (1⁄4–1⁄2 in) 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.[5] They each contain a large stone.[6]
Chokecherry – habit
Leaf and drupes of Saskatchewan plant
Autumn foliage
Chokecherries are very high in antioxidant pigment compounds, such as anthocyanins. They share this property with chokeberries, further contributing to confusion.[5]
The chokecherry is closely related to the black cherry (Prunus serotina) of eastern North America, which can reach 30 m (100 ft) tall and has larger leaves and darker 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.[5][9]
The name chokecherry is also used for the related Manchurian cherry or Amur chokecherry (Prunus maackii).
The natural historic range of P. virginiana includes most of Canada (including Northwest Territories, but excluding Yukon, Nunavut, and Labrador), most of the United States (including Alaska, but excluding some states in the Southeast), and northern Mexico (Sonora, Chihuahua, Baja California, Durango, Zacatecas, Coahuila, and Nuevo León).[11][12][5]
The wild chokecherry is often considered a pest, as it is a host for the tent caterpillar, a threat to other fruit plants. It is also a larval host to the black-waved flannel moth, the blinded sphinx, the cecropia moth, the coral hairstreak, the cynthia moth, the elm sphinx, Glover's silkmoth, the hummingbird clearwing moth, the imperial moth, the Io moth, the polyphemus moth, the promethea moth, the red-spotted purple, the small-eyed sphinx, the spring azure, the striped hairstreak, the tiger swallowtail, the twin-spotted sphinx, and Weidemeyer's admiral.[13]
Many wildlife, including birds and game animals, eat the berries.[6] Moose, elk, mountain sheep, deer and rabbits eat the foliage, twigs, leaves, and buds.[6] Deer and elk sometimes browse the twigs profusely, not letting the plant grow above knee height.[4] The leaves serve as food for caterpillars of various Lepidoptera.
The chokecherry has a number of cultivars. 'Canada Red' and 'Schubert' have leaves that mature to purple and turn orange and red in the autumn.[14] 'Goertz' has a nonastringent, so palatable, fruit. Research at the University of Saskatchewan seeks to find or create new cultivars to increase production and processing.
The stone of the fruit is poisonous.[15] Chokecherry is toxic to horses, moose, cattle, goats, deer, and other animals with segmented stomachs (rumens), especially after the leaves have wilted (such as after a frost or after branches have been broken), because wilting releases cyanide and makes the plant sweet. The leaves themselves being poisonous,[6] about 4.5–9 kilograms (10–20 pounds) of foliage can be fatal. Symptoms of a horse that has been poisoned include heavy breathing, agitation, and weakness.
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 asperous-textured concoction used to ward off or treat colds, fever and stomach maladies by Native Americans.[16] 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.[17] The chokecherry fruit can be eaten when fully ripe, but otherwise contains a toxin.[18] The fruit can be used to make jam or syrup, but the bitter nature of the fruit requires sugar to sweeten the preserves.[19] The Plains Indians pound up the whole fruits—including the toxic pits—in a mortar, from which they made sun-baked cakes.[20]
Chokecherry is also used to craft wine[6] in the Western United States, mainly in the Dakotas and Utah, as well as in Manitoba, Canada.
In 2007, North Dakota governor John Hoeven signed a bill naming the chokecherry the state's official fruit, in part because its remains have been found at more archeological sites in the Dakotas than anywhere else.[21]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link) Note that this website has been superseded by World Flora Online Prunus virginiana, commonly called bitter-berry, chokecherry, Virginia bird cherry, and western chokecherry (also black chokecherry for P. virginiana var. demissa), is a species of bird cherry (Prunus subgenus Padus) native to North America.
