Trees & Shrubs of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden

Red Chokeberry is a deciduous shrub growing from 3 to 12 feet high. See bottom of the page for range. Native U.S. Red Chokeberry plants are not hardy north of USDA Zone 5.

Leaves are alternate, ovate-lanceolate shape (broadest in the lower half) with a short stalk, fine toothed edge, with fine dense hair on the underside, a medium dull green color which turns a dark glossy green in the autumn before finally turning red. Leaves are slightly larger than the native Black Chokeberry.

The inflorescence is a terminal panicle on the tips of short stub twigs rising from buds on the prior seasons growth. Flower clusters will be 2 to 2-1/2 inches wide. Flower stalks and buds are woolly.

The flowers are 5-parted with white to pinkish petals, about 20 stamens with pink anthers and with a 5-parted style, all rising from a yellow-green central receptacle. The petals are clawed (narrowed at the base where they attach). The hypanthium is light green in color, cup shaped with 5 sepal lobes that are triangular in shape. Flower buds appear with the new leaves.

Fruit: Fruit matures in the autumn to a juicy red berry, (a pome) about 1/4 to 1/3 inch diameter. Each pome contains 1 to 5 seeds. Humans can use the fruit for canning and jelly making. When cooked, Red 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.

Habitat: Red Chokeberry grows best in full sun on moist well drained sites. It is tolerant of some shade. Several cultivars are available in the nursery trade, a few of which will survive north of Zone 5.

Names: Some references have transferred this plant into the genus Photinia with the species name pyrifolia, although many references will insist it remain in Aronia and apparently, recent molecular data would support that (##ref below). Minnesota authorities - the DNR and the U of M Herbarium are using Aronia as is the authoritative Flora of North America which just published (2016) the new volume on the Rosaceae. The genus Aronia is derived from the Greek aria, which is a Greek name for a species of Sorbus whose fruits resemble Chokeberry. The species arbutifolia means 'with leaves like the arbutus,' which is a genus of small trees and shrubs with edible red berries.

The author names for the plant classification are twofold - first to publish in 1753 with the name Mespilus arbutifolia was '(L.)' refers to Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), Swedish botanist and the developer of the binomial nomenclature of modern taxonomy. His work was amended in 1806 by ‘Pers.’ which is for Christiaan Hendrik Persoon (1761-1836), South African born botanist, educated in Europe, maintained a large herbarium, published Synopsis Plantarum, describing 20,000 species including this species, but is best known for his work in the fungi. The alternate genus Photinia, is from the Greek 'photeinos' meaning 'luminous' and is used here with plants with glossy leaves. The alternate species pyrifolia means 'pear shaped' referring the leaf shape

Comparisons: Red Chokeberry is similar to the Black Chokeberry that is native to Minnesota.