Al Schneider's Rocky Mountains Plant Descriptions

Chokecherry
Prunus virginiana
Rose family (Rosaceae)

Chokecherry is edible, but very tart, and is commonly canned for use in pies, jellies, jams, and syrups. The seed can contain high concentrations of hydrogen cyanide, a poison that gives almonds their characteristic flavor. This toxin is readily detected by its bitter taste. It is usually present in too small a quantity to do any harm, but bitter seeds should not be eaten. Chokecherry are a favorite of birds, bears, and other wildlife. Chokecherry is found almost from coast to coast across the central and northern United States and southern Canada. "Prunus" is Latin for "purple."


©2009 Matt Lavin

Description

shrub or small tree, 3-24' tall. , oval, finely , with 1-2 purple-red near the base. Leaves usually abruptly pointed at tips. Numerous white or cream-colored saucer-shaped flowers are arranged in , congested, elongated clusters. Bark purple-gray, with small, raised, horizontal pores. Dark red to black cherries in hanging clusters appear in mid to late summer.

Field Marks

White flowers in long clusters, red-black in hanging clusters.

© Al Schneider

Like the teeth on a saw, leaves and other surfaces can have toothed edges.

terminal -- Located at the end (the tip or the apex).

Glands are plant structures that secrete liquids, salts or other substances. Glands often appear as hairs with a drop of liquid at the end.

Deciduous plants are those that lose all of their leaves for part of the year.

fruit -- any seed-bearing structure in flowering plants. It is formed from the ovary after flowering.

The botanical term "berry" is different from common usage. Strawberries and raspberries are not berries. But a tomatoe is. A true berry is a fruit with the seeds immersed in the pulp.

blade -- Just the flat part of a leaf. Not the stem.

leaves alternate along the main stem and are attached singly.