Tree Talk: Black Chokeberry
Small and mighty
The Black Chokeberry, Aronia melanocarpa, has a perfectly apt name. It's a small shrub with an incredibly astringent berry, both chock-full of antioxidants and a slight challenge to eat. This fruit, commonly called Aronia berry, is more than worth its trouble in both nutritional and historical value. Indigenous communities have used aronia berries for centuries as both sustenance and medicine, eating some right off of the branch and cooking or drying the rest.
We've since learned from those same indigenous communities about the many benefits and uses of the little Black Chokeberry tree. The midsize, purple-black berry clusters are packed with vitamin C, manganese, and fiber. Today, farmers and foragers alike collect the fruit for tea, jam, juice, syrup, cakes, or even an instant (if mouth-puckering) summer snack.
I first tried Aronia berries at Wild Field Urban Farm on Erie's East Side. A good friend of mine and well-known Erie urban farmer, Steph Ciner (40 Under 40 Class of 2023), offered me the fruit with a knowing smile, and challenged me to try it despite the controversial taste. Standing at the edge of the farm's onion patch, my ankles just barely out of reach of some nearby stinging nettle, I tried the sun-warmed fruit. Just two or three of them instantly dried out my mouth, and at the same time offered a deep, sweet, almost wine-like taste. Like so many native tree fruits I've come to know and love, it tasted like a bit of nature itself.
Before the Black Chokeberry can put out summer berries, though, this small and mighty tree bursts into the sweetest little springtime flowers – paper-thin white petals with a spray of cotton-candy-pink anthers in the middle. As the tree blooms, some flowers open wide while others remain tight orbs of circular petals. The flowers are typically found in clusters, giving the Black Chokeberry the effect of tiny fireworks displays set against dark foliage. The shrub in its entirety is compact, boasting ovular leaves in shades of summertime green, and grows up and out like a vase. This aesthetic fits well into even the most competitive gardens and landscapes, displaying full and vibrant foliage across the warm seasons. Come autumn, the leaves typically turn to rich reds and pumpkin orange before dropping and starting the seasonal cycle all over again.
The Black Chokeberry just so happens to be a Great Lakes speciality, too! Although its native range dips as far south as Alabama and reaches north into Ontario, the tree is partial to boggy conditions and high Appalachian elevations. This makes it a staple of the Great Lakes region and means it can be found growing wild in our area's wetlands – even right here in Erie!
Additionally, due to their adaptability to different kinds of soil, chokeberries are also excellent in restoration projects. They're especially effective for erosion control along creeks and habitat preservation for essential native wildlife. At LEAF, we've used Black Chokeberries in both environmental and food-access tree plantings. They can be found lining the peaches and plums in our orchard at Frontier Park, as well as intermittently planted within fruit trees at Diehl Elementary. For us, Black Chokeberries really are the best of it all: a superfood, with super flowers, and an all-around super native tree!
For more information on Erie's Arboretum at LEAF, visit: leaferie.org
Hannah Rhodes can be reached at hannah@leaferie.org
