Chokecherries
''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. Description Chokecherry is a suckering shrub or small tree growing to tall, rarely to and exceptionally with a trunk as thick as . The leaves are oval, long and wide, with a serrated margin. The stems rarely exceed in length. The flowers are produced in racemes long in late spring (well after leaf emergence), eventually growing up to 15 cm. They are across. The fruits (drupes) are about in diameter, range in color from bright red to black, and possess a very astringent taste, being both somewhat sour and somewhat bitter. They get darker and marginally sweeter as they ripen. They each contain a large stone. Chemistry Chokecherries are very high in antioxidant pigment compounds, such as anthocyanins. T ...
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Aronia
''Aronia'' is a genus of deciduous shrubs, the chokeberries, in the family Rosaceae native to eastern North America and most commonly found in wet woods and swamps. The genus Aronia is considered to have 3 species. The most common and widely used is ''Aronia melanocarpa'' (black chokeberry) which emerged from Eastern North America. The lesser known ''Aronia arbutifolia'' (red chokeberry) and the hybrid form of the abovementioned species called ''Aronia prunifolia'' (purple chokeberry) were first cultivated in Central and Eastern North America. In the eighteenth century, the first shrubs of the best-known species ''Aronia melanocarpa'' reached Europe where they were first cultivated in Scandinavia and Russia. Chokeberries are cultivated as ornamental plants and as food products. The sour berries, or aronia berries, can be eaten raw off the bush, but are more frequently processed. They can be used to make wine, jam, syrup, juice, soft spreads, tea, salsa, extracts, beer, ice ...
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