Description | Black Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa elata) A medium spreading, medium height shrub that is adaptable to many different sites. The spring flowers and fall color are two of its better features. Can be a moderately aggressive spreader. |
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Pronunciation | (a-roh-NI-a)(mel-an-OH-car-pa) |
Plant Type | Shrubs Deciduous, Site author's observations |
Hardiness Zone | 3-8 |
Sunlight | sun, mostly sunny, part sun, part shade |
Moisture | average to moist |
Soil & Site | average, wet, boggy |
Flowers | 5 peals, white, borne in a corymb, early spring after the leaves emerge. |
Fruit | pome, dark purple, almost black, edible but very astringent tasting, birds leave this fruit for last |
Leaves | dark glossy green leaves during the summer, wine red to purple fall foliage, fall foliage could rival the Burning Bush |
Stems | twiggy |
Roots | fibrous |
Maintenance | control the agressive spreading |
Propagation | seeds, cuttings |
Native Site | northeastern United States and adjacent Canada |
Misc Facts | 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. |
Author's Notes | Each day I drive past a pair of Chokeberry and they are around 5 by 5. Plants I have used in landscapes have suckered and formed a thicket. |
Notes & Reference | #01-Manual of Woody Landscape Plants (Michael Dirr) |