Scientific Name: Aronia melanocarpa
Family: Rosaceae
Height: 3 – 6 ft.
Spread: 3 – 6 ft.
Bloom Time: May
Native Range: Eastern North America, Pennsylvania
Ecological Value: Nectar source, berries for birds
Human Value: Extremely bitter berries are technically edible and contain a large amount of pectin, but need to be cooked with a great deal of sweetening such as in jams.
August 5, 2020: In a class on attracting animal life to gardens that I took at the Mt. Cuba Center in the fall of 2018, the lecturer said that he had observed that birds preferred black chokeberries to red chokeberries. I look forward to comparing the interest in the two species in our yard this fall (2020). So far, the birds have largely ignored the red chokeberry by the front door.
Black Chokeberry Ripening Black Chokeberries (July) Black Chokeberry Leaves