Prunus virginiana L.
choke cherry (chokecherry)
Rosaceae (Rose family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
choke cherry (chokecherry)
Rosaceae (Rose family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Introduction
This is a small deciduous species of cherry tree that is native to BC.
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Species Information
General:
Shrub or occasionally a small tree, 1-6 m tall, often suckering and thicket-forming; young twigs usually hairy; bark smooth to fine-scaly, reddish-brown to grey-brown, not peeling readily, the lenticels not prominent.
Leaves:
Alternate, deciduous, elliptic to egg-shaped, 3-10 cm long; finely and regularly saw-toothed, abruptly tapering to a sharp-pointed tip, blunt to rounded or somewhat heart-shaped at the base, green and smooth above, paler and smooth to hairy beneath; leaf stalk with 1 or 2 prominent glands near the top.
Flowers:
Inflorescence a long (5-15 cm) bottlebrush-like cluster, at the end of a short leafy spur-shoot, of numerous stalked flowers; corollas white, saucer-shaped, the petals 5, nearly circular, 4-6 mm long; calyces smooth, 5-lobed, the oval lobes blunt, irregularly glandular-toothed or ragged, 1-1.5 mm long; ovaries superior; stamens about 25.
Fruits:
Fleshy drupes with a large stone (cherries), egg- to globe-shaped, 6-12 mm long, shiny, red, purple or black; seeds 1.
Notes:
Two subspecies occur in BC:
1. Leaves smooth beneath or hairy in axils of veins; drupes bluish-purple to black; plants from east of the Coast-Cascade Mountains................ ssp. melanocarpa (Nels.) Taylor & MacBryde
1. Leaves velvety-hairy beneath; drupes black; plants from west of the Coast-Cascade Mountains.................... ssp. demissa Taylor & MacBryde
USDA Species Characteristics
Flower Colour:
White
Blooming Period:
Mid Spring
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Black
Present over the Summer
According to the USDA, this species is a known allelopath.
Source: The USDA
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Prunus virginiana
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
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|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
828 | 38 | 2013 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
39 | 0 | 230 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
190 | 0 | 360 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
2 | 0 | 7 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
C | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
860 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
IDF | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
AT(6), BG(68), BWBS(42), CWH(1), ESSF(12), ICH(124), IDF(320), IMA(1), MS(64), PP(102), SBPS(5), SBS(80) | ||
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Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
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Habitat and Range
Dry to mesic forest edges, open forests, thickets, bluffs, grassy rocky slopes, river terraces, gullies, draws and streambanks in grasslands, and clearings in the lowland and montane zones; common in S BC, especially east of the Coast-Cascade Mountains, infrequent northward; E to NF and S to NC, TX and CA.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Prunus demissa (Nutt.) Walp.
Prunus virginiana subsp. demissa (Nutt.) Roy L. Taylor & MacBryde