The heavy, almost black fruits on Black Chokeberry are often so abundant the branches bend to support the weight. Tart and bitter off the vine, the berries can be used to make tasty jams and jellies, making Black Chokeberry a great addition to a food forest.
White, fragrant summer flowers are lovely, growing in clusters among the dark green foliage and attracting native bees, wasps, flies. Aronia also is a larval host to the Coral Hairstreak and other butterfly and moth species. Birds love the berries and depend on them as an early winter food source.
Black Chokeberry likes to colonize and looks great in clusters or trained as a hedge. It is highly flood tolerant and grows well near ponds and streams.
Fun fact: The berries are so tart off the vine they may make you choke. Best in jams and pies.
Check out our blog on Black Chokeberry here
Photos: Creative Commons
Chokeberry, Black
- Latin: Aronia melanocarpa
- Pollinator value: Very high
- Wetland status: FAC
- Current height: 3-5 feet
- Mature height: 4-8 feet; 3-6-foot spread
- Light: Full sun to part shade (best fruit in full sun)
- Soil: Medium (wide range of tolerance including floods)
- Bloom: Pink, white, May-June
- Fruit: Fall, blackish-purple, edible; One needed for fruit
- Foliage: Deciduous, red fall
- Landscape uses: Hedge, rain, butterfly, pollinator gardens, small gardens, naturalized areas
- Native range here