Common name:
Chokecherry
Family:
Scientific name:
Prunus virginiana
Main flower color:
Range:
All of the western states
Height:
Up to 20 feet
Habitat:
Streambanks, canyons, roadsides, woodland, mountainsides, from near sea level to 8,500 feet
Leaves:
Ovate to oblanceolate, hairless, stalked, shiny, up to 4 inches long and 2 inches wide, with finely-toothed margins
Season:
April to June
Prunus virginiana is a small tree, growing in a variety of habitats, and found across most of the US. Leaves are shiny and hairless above, duller and sparsely hairy below; hairs are most likely along the midvein. Leaves are lined with small, sharp teeth and they have pinnate venation, with six to 13 pairs of lateral veins. Leaves are attached by stalks of around one inch.
Flowers are produced in elongated (up to 5 inches) clusters at the branch tips, usually pendent, with between 18 and 64 heads, appearing well after the leaves. The hairless pedicels are around a quarter of an inch long. Flowers have a cup-shaped hypanthium, five greenish, rounded sepals, five larger white obovate petals and a group of yellow stamens, similar in length to the petals. Fruits are hairless berries, red to black, half an inch or less in diameter.
Flowers are produced in elongated (up to 5 inches) clusters at the branch tips, usually pendent, with between 18 and 64 heads, appearing well after the leaves. The hairless pedicels are around a quarter of an inch long. Flowers have a cup-shaped hypanthium, five greenish, rounded sepals, five larger white obovate petals and a group of yellow stamens, similar in length to the petals. Fruits are hairless berries, red to black, half an inch or less in diameter.
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