← Trees & Shrubs
🌳 Trees & Shrubs
Chokecherry
(Prunus virginiana)
Native hedgerow fruit — cook it, never eat the pits
🔍 How to identify it
Large shrub/small tree to 6 m; oval finely-toothed leaves with two tiny glands at the leaf base; long dangling white flower racemes; strings of dark red-to-black cherries each with one stone.
☠️ Look-alike & safety
⚠️ Leaves, twigs and PITS contain cyanide compounds — cook the fruit and discard pits; never eat the seeds or foliage. The hanging raceme separates it from saskatoon.
🤝 Companion planting
Plant near:
shelterbelt speciesnative grasses
| Family | Rosaceae (rose family) |
| Hardiness zone | 2-7 (tough native) |
| Sun | Full sun to part shade |
| Water | Drought-tolerant |
| Soil | Very tolerant; shelterbelt-tough |
| Spacing | 2-4 m |
| Sowing / starting | Transplant suckers or seedlings; native and hardy |
| Harvest | Late summer when black; cook into jelly/syrup — always strain out the pits |
| Common pests | Black knot fungus (prune out), tent caterpillars. |
🧺 What it's good for
Jelly, syrup, wine, pemmican (cooked). Shelterbelt and wildlife shrub. Cook only; pits are toxic.
Plant identification here is educational — never eat, forage, or medicate with a wild plant on the basis of a website alone. Many edible plants have toxic look-alikes. When in doubt, grow from known seed, or confirm with an expert before you harvest.