Red Chokeberry, Photinia pyrifolia Lam. Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden

Red Chokeberry is similar to the Black Chokeberry that is native to Minnesota. It is a deciduous shrub growing from 3 to 12 feet high. See below for range. Native U.S. plants are not hardy beyond USDA Zone 5. In the spring it has clusters of 5-parted white to pinkish showy flowers. Flower stalks are woolly. Clusters, appearing on new growth, will be 2 to 2-1/2" wide. Fruit matures in the autumn to a juicy red berry, (a pome) about 1/4 to 1/3" diameter. Each pome contains 1 to 5 seeds. Leaves are alternate, ovate-lanceolate shape with a short stalk, fine toothed edge, dense with fine hair on the underside, medium green color which turns a dark glossy green in the Autumn before finally turning red. Leaves are slightly larger than the Black Chokeberry. Humans can use the fruit for canning and jelly making. When cooked, Chokeberries make a heavy, sweet solid jelly, sweeter than that from Black Chokeberry. They have an abundance of pectin and should self-set. Raw Red Chokeberry, unlike the Black, is palatable to most people. The antioxidant qualities of Chokeberry make them very beneficial for the human diet. Current USDA listings put this plant in the genus Photinia although many references will insist it be in Aronia.

	Plants of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden
	Common Name	Scientific Name	Plant Family	Garden Location	Prime Season
	Red Chokeberry	Photinia pyrifolia Lam. formerly Aronia arbutifolia (L.) Pers.	Rose (Rosaceae)	Not in Garden	May flowering - late summer fruit.
Other names and notes	Red Chokeberry is similar to the Black Chokeberry that is native to Minnesota. It is a deciduous shrub growing from 3 to 12 feet high. See below for range. Native U.S. plants are not hardy beyond USDA Zone 5. In the spring it has clusters of 5-parted white to pinkish showy flowers. Flower stalks are woolly. Clusters, appearing on new growth, will be 2 to 2-1/2" wide. Fruit matures in the autumn to a juicy red berry, (a pome) about 1/4 to 1/3" diameter. Each pome contains 1 to 5 seeds. Leaves are alternate, ovate-lanceolate shape with a short stalk, fine toothed edge, dense with fine hair on the underside, medium green color which turns a dark glossy green in the Autumn before finally turning red. Leaves are slightly larger than the Black Chokeberry. Humans can use the fruit for canning and jelly making. When cooked, Chokeberries make a heavy, sweet solid jelly, sweeter than that from Black Chokeberry. They have an abundance of pectin and should self-set. Raw Red Chokeberry, unlike the Black, is palatable to most people. The antioxidant qualities of Chokeberry make them very beneficial for the human diet. Current USDA listings put this plant in the genus Photinia although many references will insist it be in Aronia.