Aronia arbutifoliaIndiana Native
Red Chokeberry

Previously known as:  Photinia pyrifolia
Aronia arbutifolia - Old Fruit
 Family:
 Genus:
 Plant Type:
 Growth Forms:
 Hardiness:
 Deciduous / Evergreen:
 Flower Notes:
White (White (sometimes tinged in pink) flowers (0.3" dia.) on 1-1.5" dia. tomentose corymbs in spring)
 Foliage Notes:
Green (Lustrous dark green foliage in summer); Red (Crimson red foliage in fall (develops best in full sun))
 Fruit Notes:
Red (Outstanding bright red berries that last into January)
 Ultimate Height:
6-10 feet
 Ultimate Spread:
3-5 feet
 Light Requirements:
 Soil Notes:
Widely adapted shrub, especially good on poor soil
 Range:
Northeastern to central United States
 Diagnostic Characteristics:
Leaves are alternate, simple, elliptic, 1.5-3.5" long and 0.5-0.75" wide. Margins have black-tipped teeth. Dark glands are present along the midrib on the upper side of the leaf. Top dark green and bottom with gray tomentum. Stems also tomentose. (Aronia melanocarpa is not tomentose on its leaves or stems.) Five scaled buds are green tinged red, often completely red, and glabrous. Flowers resemble those of hawthorn.
 Ecological Functions:
  Special Characteristics:
  • Border 368
  • Naturalizing 102
  • Specimen 600
  • Fall Color 207
  • Food/Edible 80
  • Showy Fruit 1
  • Indiana Native 152
  • Slow Growth Rate 267

    • Additional Information

    Red Chokeberry is often a multi-stem shrub that's native to Indiana as well as Eastern North America to Minnesota and south as far as Texas. This shrub bears white to slightly pinkish flowers with prominent anthers that gives it a unique look. Red berries form in September to often December. Best grown in mass plantings or for a naturalizing species in the landscape. Though the berries are bitter to taste, they are often used in creating jams and jellies.

    Other plants like this Aronia arbutifolia (Red Chokeberry)

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