Nature’s Bittersweet Staple: Chokecherry’s Importance Across Habitats and Cultures

Like many fruits, chokecherries are members of the rose family. The plants can grow as trees as tall as 25 feet in height, but they often take the form of shrubby bushes. Their leaves are dark green on top and lighter green on the bottom. Leaf edges are serrated or “sawtoothed”. The bark of young chokecherries is smooth and gray to reddish-brown. The bark darkens and becomes more scaly as the plants gets older.

Chokecherries produce clusters of small, cascading white flowers in spring. The pollinated flowers develop into fruit that starts out green. The fruit then turns red. When ripe, it’s often described as black or dark purple. The fruit grows in clusters, and they mostly consist of a pit surrounded by a bit of tart to sweet flesh.

Chokecherry Habitat

Chokecherry grows in a variety of conditions across temperate North America, excluding much of the southern United States. Chokecherry grows in terrains ranging from canyons, ravines, mountains, foothills, woodlands, forest peripheries, clearings, roadsides, fields and streamsides. They often grow in thickets and spread by underground runners. They prefer moist to dry alkaline soils and full sun to partial shade.

Wildlife Uses of Chokecherry

Chokecherry blossoms attract pollinators like native bees as well as honeybees, bumblebees, butterflies, ants and moths.

Their berries are a source of food for wildlife like birds and rodents and omnivores like bears. Birds and other wildlife often spread the seeds through their droppings. Despite their toxicity, chokecherry leaves are also browsed by hooves animals like deer.

Chokecherry trees or bushes also provide habitat for nesting birds and other animals. Tent caterpillars often weave their silk homes on chokecherry branches, and chokecherry leaves are among their preferred foods.

Uses of Chokecherries Across Cultures

Chokecherries have long been a source of food for humans. The plants are often described as astringent. Their berries are usually cooked or dried to reduce any bitterness before eating. Very ripe fruit is mildly sweet.

Traditional Native American Uses of Chokecherry

Chokecherries are often an ingredient of pemmican, a mixture of tallow, dried meat and sometimes dried berries, which has been a traditional staple of Native American diets.

Another traditional use of chokecherries is to grind or pound them, seeds and all, into patties for later use. The patties are dried (or perhaps frozen nowadays) and boiled and thickened into a pudding or sauce.

Other traditional Native American uses of chokecherry include natural dyes. Chokecherries have also been used for medicine, including medicinal tea made from chokecherry bark. Chokecherry wood was also used to craft bows, arrows and other items.

Other Uses of Chokecherry

Once settlers arrived, they made their own uses for the fruit. Chokecherries are used to make preserves, juice, jelly and syrup, pie filling and wine.

For recipes for chokecherry jelly and syrups, see University of Wyoming Extension’s publication Preserving Food in Wyoming, or for more jelly recipes, see North Dakota State University Extension’s Jams and Jellies from Native (Wild) Fruits publication.

Planting Chokecherry Trees

Chokecherry plants are grown as ornamentals, mainly for their abundant springtime blossoms and as a source of food.

When planting chokecherry plants, remember they prefer direct sunlight and don’t do well in heavy clay. They prefer moderate moisture (areas receiving 13-65 inches of annual precipitation). They’re found naturally in hardiness zones 2–7, but they can be grown in zones up to zone 10.

Chokecherry Toxicity

Chokecherry seeds, leaves, stems and bark are toxic to humans and livestock like cattle and sheep and wildlife. These parts of the trees contain hydrocyanic acid, a source of cyanide.

Online Chokecherry Resources

For additional chokecherry articles and information, check out these resources:

• Astringency Isn’t A Flavor; It’s A Sensation! – Article about the astringency of chokecherries by Daniel Vitalis host of WildFed on the Outdoor Channel.
• Chokecherries Invite Pollinators and Frugivores, but Poison Herbivores – An article by University of Colorado Professor Jeff Mitton in CU’s Colorado Arts & Sciences Magazine.
• Chokecherry – Information from the Foods Indigenous to the Western Hemisphere section of the University of Kansas American Indian Health and Diet Project website.
• Chokecherry (aka Capulin): Identifying Plants, Harvesting Fruit, and Making Jelly – A blog post from New Mexico State University Extension agent Suzanne DeVos-Cole.
• Chokecherry – Native Memory Project – Article and videos presented by Crow Historian Grant Bulltail self-taught naturalist John Mionczynski, describing chokecherry and its uses among Native American groups.
• Chokecherry Plant Guide – Plant information from USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.
• Chokecherry – Prunus Virginiana – Profile from University of Minnesota’s Urban Forestry Outreach and Research Nursery & Lab.
• Chokecherry Wojapi by Mavis Two Bulls and Rachel Nava – Video of two sisters making their version of Lakota chokecherry wojapi from South Dakota Public Media’s Savor Dakota program.
• Common Chokecherry – Plant profile from Washington College in Maryland.
• Prunus virginiana – Profile from the North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox.
• Tent-Making Caterpillars – Information on various caterpillar species that weave silk tents by Colorado State University Extension.
• The Most Common Native Cherry in CO – A blog post from Forage Colorado, a website created by Orion Aon, a natural resources professional who works in state forestry.