Chokeberry

PEI has so many beautiful wild plants. One of my favourites is Black Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa), a shrub that has it all: lush foliage, attractive flowers, edible fruit, and eye-catching fall colour! 

Photo: Black Chokeberry flowers and berries on PEI.

 Black Chokeberry is a hardy perennial that’s native to eastern North America, including here on PEI. It’s common in coastal areas and damp, mossy forests but tolerates a range of site conditions and makes a wonderful landscape plant. I’ve added some to my own yard, and the fact that they’re thriving – and producing huge crops of berries every year – is a testament to how easy they are to grow (I suck at growing things!). 

In early June, Black Chokeberry sports clusters of five-petalled white flowers, each with a greenish-yellow (female) pistil in the centre surrounded by (male) stamens topped with pink anthers. Once each flower has been pollinated, those anthers fall off, making it easy to see the progress of your local pollinator workforce (you can see this in the main photo). Pollinated flowers develop into dark purple – almost black – berries in September (inset photo). By mid-October, those glossy green leaves turn a beautiful shade of red. 

If I had to label one Island plant a “superfood”, this would be it. Chokeberries are exceptionally high in antioxidants, more than triple that of Blueberries. (Antioxidants are believed to lower the risk of diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s disease, and cancer among many other things). Chokeberries are low in calories, high in protein, fibre, and essential vitamins, and there is ongoing research into their amazing range of health benefits. 

So why doesn’t Chokeberry get more love? The fruit isn’t very tasty raw: it’s mouth-puckeringly sour and drying (hence the common name). That dry-mouth effect is due to tannins – compounds in the fruit that bind to proteins in our saliva and make it less slippery. You may have had a similar experience from tannins in red wine, coffee, or tea.  

While a handful of raw Chokeberries might have you thinking this plant isn’t for you, don’t write it off just yet! Those plentiful, juicy berries make excellent wine, pie, juice, tea, and syrup.  I’ve included a recipe for Chokeberry Preserves in my new book ‘Wild Foods of Prince Edward Island’, available from local Maritime bookstores, Amazon, Indigo, and this website. 

Now that you know what to look for, keep your eye out for these beautiful, hardy, and useful parts of PEI Untamed!