Is it chokeberry or chokecherry?

      Black chokeberry is one of the common names for Aronia melanocarpa.  The name “chokeberry” can easily be misunderstood or misread as the word “chokecherry.”  Chokecherry is the common name for a different plant --  .  In fact, the two plants are only distantly related within the Rosaceae or rose family of plants.  These two species have some similarities but many differences.  For example, chokecherry has toxicity issues but chokeberry does not. 

      The leaves and seeds of Prunus virginiana contain varying amounts of hydrocyanic acid (prussic acid) which ionizes in water and give off cyanide which is highly toxic.  Ingestion of about 0.25 percent of an animal’s weight in leaves can be fatal to livestock.  Poisoning occurs when susceptible animals consume a relatively large amount of leaves over a short period of time.  Chokecherry is toxic to horses and animals with segmented stomachs (rumens).  Ruminate animals include domestic cattle, goats, sheep, bison, buffaloes, camels, llamas, giraffes, deer, pronghorns, antelopes, and moose.  

     Chokecherry leaves are especially toxic after they have wilted, such as after a frost or after branches have been broken. Wilting causes the  hydrocyanic acid to be converted to cyanogenic glycoside, which makes the leaves sweet. Chewing the leaves can result in conversion to cyanide due to the presence of digestive enzymes in the mouth.  Chokecherry seeds are also toxic.  Although uncommon  there are recorded incidences of children who got sick and died after eating relatively large quantities of chokecherry seeds. 

      Currently, there is no data in the scientific literature about any unwanted or toxic effects of Aronia melanocarpa fruit, seeds, or juice or extracts made from the aronia berries.  The leaves, stems, and roots have not been investigated as extensively as the fruit.  However, there is no information or reports of toxicity of any parts of Aronia melanocarpa or any of the aronia cultivars.

Chokecherry Fruit

      Further adding to the confusion between black chokeberry and black chokecherry is the existence of Prunus virginiana ‘Melanocarpa’ or Prunus virginiana var. melanocarpa.  This cultivar or variety name is the same as the specific epithet or the last part of the scientific name of chokeberry -- Aronia melanocarpa.  To avoid confusion, it is preferable to use the genus name of Aronia melanocarpa as its common name -- aronia.
   
     The genus name of many plants is used as their common name.  For example, hosta is the common name of a very commonly grown herbaceous perennial plant grown in many landscape plantings.  The genus name for hosta is Hosta.  In the past, hosta plants were also sometimes called plantain lily and funkia.



Hosta



      Getting back to the differences between chokeberry and chokecherry, there are several easy ways to tell them apart.  Their fruit looks similar but is easy to identify by the size and number of seeds.

      Chokeberry (Aronia) fruit has five or less seeds per fruit.  The seeds are small and barely noticeable when you eat the fruit, like the seeds in blueberries or strawberries (see photos below).

      Chokecherry (Prunus) fruit has a single seed known as a stone or pit.  This type of fruit is commonly known a stone fruit but the botanical name for this type of fruit is a drupe.  A drupe consists of a relatively thin outer epicarp (skin), a relatively thick, fleshy or fibrous mesocarp (flesh or meat), and one large pit or stone (seed) enclosed by a hardened endocarp (seed coat).

     The genus Prunus includes more than 400 species of flowering shrubs and trees. In addition to chokecherry, other examples include black cherry, sour cherry, sweet cherry, peach, nectarine (fuzz-less peach), plum, apricot, and almond. Almonds are like peaches but they have an edible seed and their outer flesh is thin and not edible.

Photos of leaves, stems, etc. of black cherry, Prunus seritona

      Chokeberry flowers clusters are flat-topped but chokecherry flower clusters are long and more cylindrical.  The fruit of each is arranged in the same type of clusters as the flowers (see photos below).

      Chokecherry is native to almost all of North America except the extreme south east.  Chokeberry is only native to the northeastern quarter of the United States and adjacent areas of southeast Canada.

      The genus Aronia has been included in the genus Photinia in some classifications (Robertson, etal. 1991).  However, molecular data has confirmed that these genera are not closely related (Campbell, etal. 2007).  Ten years ago, one of the most popular shrubs in the South was the red-tip photinia (Photinia fraseri).  Everybody wanted this handsome evergreen shrub and it was widely grown by Southern nursery growers for use in both commercial and residential landscapes.  Aronia melanocarpa is not closely related to Photinia fraseri.

      Common names for aronia in languages other than English are:

            Danish: surbær

            German: apfelbeeren

            Icelandic: logalauf

            Latvian: aronijas

            Polish: aronia

            Russian: арония 
            Swedish: aronior

            Ukrainian: горобина чорноплідна 
            Upper Sorbian: slowčinowa aronija

            Welsh: aeron tagu

References:

Campbell, C.S., R.C. Evans, D.R. Morgan, T.A. Dickinson, and M.P. Arsenault. 2007. Phylogeny of subtribe Pyrinae (formerly the Maloideae, Rosaceae): Limited resolution of a complex evolutionary history. Plant Systematics and Evolution 266(1-2): 119-145.

Robertson, K.R., J.B. Phipps, J.R. Rohrer, and P.G. Smith. 1991. A synopsis of genera in Maloideae (Rosaceae). Systematic Botany 16(2): 376-394.

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      Please recommend this website http://aroniainamerica.blogspot.com/ to a friend, family member, or anyone who might be interested in aronia.

 

      Please post a comment in the box below.  To learn more about aronia, visit our website Everhart Horticulture Consulting.

Thank you,
Dr. Eldon Everhart