Chokecherries

Prunus virginiana
Prunus virginiana var. virginiana (eastern gut cherry) in bloom
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Rosales
Family:	Rosaceae
Genus:	Prunus
Subgenus:	Padus
Species:	P. virginiana
Binomial name
Prunus virginiana L. 1753 not DuRoi 1771
Natural range
Synonyms
List Cerasus virginica Michx. ex hort. Padus rubra Mill. Padus virginiana (L.) Mill. Padus virginiana (L.) M.Roem. Prunus virginica Steud. Cerasus demissa Nutt. ex Torr. & A.Gray, syn of var. demissa Padus demissa (Nutt. ex Torr. & A.Gray) M.Roem., syn of var. demissa Prunus demissa (Nutt. ex Torr. & A.Gray) Walp., syn of var. demissa Padus melanocarpa (A.Nelson) Shafer, syn of var. melanocarpa Prunus melanocarpa (A.Nelson) Rydb., syn of var. melanocarpa

Prunus virginiana, commonly called bitter-berry,chokecherry,Virginia bird cherry and western chokecherry (also black chokecherry for P. virginiana var. demissa), is a species of bird cherry (Prunus subgenus Padus) native to North America; the natural historic range of P. virginiana includes most of Canada (including Northwest Territory but excluding Yukon, Nunavut, and Labrador), most of the United States (including Alaska but excluding some states in the Southeast) and northern Mexico (Sonora, Chihuahua, Baja California, Durango, Zacatecas, Coahuila and Nuevo León).

Chokecherry is a suckering shrub or small tree growing to 4.9 m (16 ft 1 in) tall. The leaves are oval, 3.2–10.2 cm (1 ¹⁄₄–4 ¹⁄₃₂ in) long, with a coarsely serrated margin. The flowers are produced in racemes 38.1–76.2 cm (15–30 in) long in late spring (well after leaf emergence). The fruits are about 1 cm (³⁄₈ in) in diameter, range in color from bright red to black, and possess a very astringent taste, being both somewhat sour and somewhat bitter. The very ripe "berries" (actually drupes) are dark in color and less astringent and more sweet than when red and unripe.

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Wikipedia