Red Chokeberry

Aronia arbutifolia

Rosaceae (Rose Family)

▲ flowering shrub in spring

▲ flowers

▲▼ fruit

Location on campus:   along the drive to the south of Lot 24, south of Grand Avenue, on MSU campus

Location near campus:  toward southeast  corner of Xeriscape Garden; Xeriscape Garden is at northwest corner of National and Linwood, about 3/4 mile south of campus on National Avenue.

Aronia arbutifolia: Red Chokeberry

·         leaves deciduous, alternate, simple, oblong or obovate with pointed tip; leaves 1.5-3.5" long and 1/4 to 1/2 as wide; margins serrate with black-tipped teeth; leaf upper side is glabrous and dark green, leaf underside is pubescent with dark glands along midrib

·         stem is slender brown and tomentose

·         flowers are white in axillary clusters in mid spring on previous season=s growth

·         fruit is a bright red 1/4" pome— very showy, but has astringent taste— not liked much by birds (hence the name)

·         grows 6-10' tall and 3-5' wide; sends up suckers from base to form a colony; foliage is often on upper third of plant, so it looks “leggy”

·         prefers full sun to half-shade and very soil adapted

·         slow to medium growth rateC faster on new suckers than existing stems