Purple chokeberry
Prepared by Jennifer L. D’Appollonio, Assistant Scientist, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469. March 2013.
Scientific name: Aronia prunifolia (Marshall) Rehder; also Photinia floribunda (Lindl.) Robertson & Phipps
Common name(s): purple chokeberry
Links: USDA PLANTS Profile , NPIN Profile
Images: (to see enlargements [PC]: click on image, then right click and choose “view image”)
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- late flower/early fruit
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- mid-June
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- note pubescence on new growth
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- note pubescence on stem below fruit
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- upper leaf surface
Description:
Rosaceae family
-leaves are
- simple
- finely toothed
- very hairy on the underside
-produces purple fruits
– may be confused with black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa), red chokeberry (Aronia arbutifolia)
-a hybrid between the red and black chokeberry
-fruits are eaten by birds and are full of vitamin C and antioxidants
Habitat:
-cliffs
-meadows and fields
-fens
-swamps
-wetlands
Sources:
Go Botany. “Aronia Floribunda (Lindl.) Spach.” Aronia Floribunda (Purple Chokeberry): Go Botany, 2021, gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/aronia/floribunda/.