Prunus virginiana seed

LATIN NAME: PRUNUS VIRGINIANA

COMMON NAME: Chokecherry

The chokecherry drops the large, suckering, deciduous shrub or small tree with the oval, toothed leaves and the many small, white flowers that open in the long, dense clusters through the spring, the small, round, dark-red to black cherries following, the clusters droping among the leaves through the summer. The plant grows quickly into the dense, rounded crown, and it stands the cold and the poor soil well. It likes the sun or the light shade, and the moist, well-drained soil.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The long flower clusters of the chokecherry give it a recognised place in the research on the cold-hardy fruit shrubs of the great cherry group, and the virginiana species appears in the studies of the suckering thicket build and the fruit chemistry. The work looks at the astringent berries for the jellies and the wines, the wildlife food value, and the seed biology. The food scientists note the berries, and the growers of the cold-climate windbreak and wildlife gardens keep the species in their catalogues.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

In the cold garden and the wild corner, the chokecherry drops the spring garden with the white clusters and the dark berries. The cherries serve the jellies, the syrups and the wines for the ages, the clusters feed the birds and the small mammals, and the flowers open for the bees. It grows well in the moist, well-drained, sunny or lightly shaded ground. White-clustered, dark-berried and cold-hardy.

To grow the Chokecherry from seed, sow the cleaned seeds into the deep, sandy trays of the cold frame in the autumn, then cover them well, keep the drills gently watered.

Sow the cleaned seeds into the deep, sandy trays of the cold frame, and give the young plants the open, sunny spot. The drop clusters come within a few seasons. , and the young plants surface through the spring. The drop clusters will white the spring.

 

 

 

 

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Choke cherry may get its name from its astringent and rather unappetizing fruits. The flowers are borne on drooping racemes at the ends of branches, appearing with the leaves in late May and June. Its broad, egg-shaped leaves distinguish it from its look-alike, pin cherry (Prunus pensylvanica). Eastern tent caterpillars find choke cherry to be a favorite host plant. Although wild choke cherries are bitter, several cultivars produce more palatable fruit. Birds feed heavily on the ripe fruits.

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Alternate Names common chokecherry, choke cherry, black chokecherry, red chokecherry, California chokecherry, Virginia chokecherry, eastern chokecherry, western chokecherry, rum chokecherry, whiskey chokecherry, wild cherry, wild blackcherry, bird cherry, jamcherry, chokeberry, cabinet cherry, chuckleyplum, sloe tree, bitter-berry, caupulin. hardiness zones 2 to 7 naturally. If planted, chokecherry will grow into zone 10.

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Uses Many people do not realize cherry and some other very important commercial fruit trees (apple, peach, plum, apricot, nectarines, and almonds) are in the rose family. Anthropologists indicate cherries have been harvested in Eurasia from 4,000 to 5,000 B.C. In 1629, chokecherry was imported to England where it has been cultivated as an ornamental. It was first cultivated in North America as an orchard crop in 1724.

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Food: The common name, chokecherry, came from the bitter and astringent taste of the fruit. The fruit was a staple for numerous Indian tribes across the North American continent, especially to tribes who lived on the plains and prairies. Chokecherries were routinely cooked before they were eaten or dried thoroughly. Both methods served to break down any formation of prussic acid contained in the stone pits. Drying chokecherries improves their taste by sweetening them, or at the very least, getting rid of the naturally occurring bitter taste. Chokecherries were consumed in three ways by Indians. The fruit and/or juice were eaten. Whole cherries, including pulp, skin and stone, were pulverized into a pulp, shaped into balls and dried in the sun. Fruit balls could be stored for future use. Either boiling or drying the fruit will neutralize the naturally occurring hydrocyanic acid. The most important use was as part of the recipe for pemmican, or mince-meat. Pemmican was made by getting a slice of dried meat (bison was preferred over elk, deer or antelope) and pounding it with a stone until it had a fine texture. Bone marrow and animal lard were then heated and mixed with the meat.

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