| Description | A tall medium spreading shrub that is loaded with white flowers in the spring, persistent red berries and brilliant red fall foliage. Grows in full to semi-shade conditions. |
|---|---|
| Pronunciation | (ar-ROH-nee-uh) |
| Plant Type | All Plants, Shrubs Deciduous |
| Hardiness Zone | 4-9 |
| Sunlight | sun, mostly sunny, part sun, part shade |
| Moisture | average to moist |
| Soil & Site | Naturally found growing in wet, boggy places but easily adapts to average soil. |
| Flowers | 5 peals, white, borne in a corymb, early spring after the leaves emerge |
| Fruit | dark purple, almost black, edible but very astringent tasting, birds leave this fruit for last |
| Leaves | lustrous, dark green, fall color orange, burgundy to wine red, good as or better than the Burning Bush |
| Dimensions | Reaches 6-10 feet tall by 4-5 foot spread. Reported to have a tendency to sucker. The plant in my garden hasn't after more than 10 years of growth. |
| Propagation | softwood cuttings, if they sucker the colony can be divided |
| Native Site | Species is native to eastern north America. |
| Cultivar Origin | in cultivation since the early 1700's |
| Misc Facts | The common name Chokeberry comes from the astringent taste of the berries. |
| Author's Notes | I have drank tea made from from Black Chokeberry fruit. It has a strong, sour puckering taste. High in anthocyanins and flavonoids, five to ten times higher than cranberry juice. Tea is a red color. |
| Notes & Reference | #01-Manual of Woody Landscape Plants (Michael Dirr), #03-The Hillier Manual of Trees and Shrubs (Hillier Nursery), #63-How to recognize Shrubs (William Carey Grimm) |
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