Description

Chokecherry is a deciduous, winterhardy, drought-resistant, native, medium shrub or small tree. It has finely-toothed, oblong leaves and a long cluster of white flowers followed by small, red-black cherries.

Cattle and sheep usually do not prefer chokecherry unless other more palatable feed is scarce. The leaves contain hydrocyanic acid and are poisonous to cattle and sheep.

Chokecherry may occur in dense patches or as scattered plants on dry rocky hillsides, in bottomlands along streams and rivers, in the canyons, draws and coulees, and in the prairies and mountains throughout Montana.

Adaptation

Chokecherry will grow on thin rocky soils, but does best on deep, well-drained, moist sites. The plants have a low tolerance to alkali. It is commonly associated with buffaloberry, hawthorn, wild plum, gooseberry and ponderosa pine in eastern Montana. In western Montana, serviceberry, nine-bark, mountain maple, elderberry, mock orange, ponderosa pine and Douglas fir are common associates. Chokecherry grows well in areas receiving at least 15 inches of annual precipitation. In the Rocky Mountains it grows on moist sites at elevations of 4,500 to 8,000 feet.

Establishment

When established from seed, the seedlings are only moderately vigorous, but survival is generally high. Fall planting of seed is recommended to provide for the cold stratification. Bareroot planting stock should be 1-0, 1-1 or 2-0 seedlings with 12 to 24 inches of height.

Management and Care

Growth is initiated in early spring and continues into late summer or early fall. The young foliage is poisonous, but the twigs are suitable for winter browse. Twigs are rich in both energy and protein in the winter and the berries are nutritious during the growing season. Chokecherry is tolerant of late season burning.

New growth from suckering should be protected to allow the formation of thickets that provide high-quality cover and optimum food for wildlife.

Western chokecherry generally decreases on higher elevation sites, and increases on lower elevation sites when the range is being overused.

Uses

Chokecherry is most commonly used in the Northern Great Plains for windbreaks, soil stabilization and wildlife plantings.

Chokecherry is very palatable to most big game animals, often being browsed to the point of extinction on winter ranges. The fruit is eaten by a large variety of songbirds and gamebirds, especially sharptail and blue grouse. Bears also feed on chokecherry fruit in the late summer and fall. The buds, twigs and foliage are heavily browsed by mule and whitetail deer.

Chokecherry is poor forage for cattle and fair forage for sheep. Chokecherry contains fair amounts of prussic acid (HCN), and if desirable vegetation is scarce, it may be eaten in sufficient amounts to cause death.

The fruit is commonly used for making jam, jelly, syrup and wine. It is also one of the many berries used by the Indians to make pemmican.