All kinds of pretty fruits and berries are coloring up right now. Tempting-looking clusters hang from nearly every shrub and hedge. This one’s common name, red chokeberry, gives a clue to the almost astringent taste of the plump little berries. But wait! Before you give it the admiring “Thanks, but no thanks,” pass, memorize the Latin name. Aronia arbutifolia. You have seen that somewhere recently, maybe in little tiny letters, maybe on the label of a vitamin-enhanced miracle beverage in the cooler at the corner store. 

This native shrub has lovely white flowers in spring, grows almost trouble free in somewhat damp, partly shady spots, changes to lovely shades of apricot and ruby in the autumn, and… it’s really high in vitamin C, is made into jams and used as a natural food coloring in things like yogurt and juice drinks. Its closest relative, black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa), has dark purple fruits that are higher in anti-oxidants than blueberries, grapes and cranberries. Native Americans used it to make pemmican, that staple wilderness food made of dried meat and berries.

The demand for products like nutritional supplements, beverages, and snacks made with Aronia has been growing as its potential benefits become better known.The shrubs are undemanding and easy to grow. Some Midwestern state agriculture researchers have been investigating its potential as a more-widely-grown crop. In the meantime I think it could be more widely grown as an ornamental, too.

Posted by Ann McCulloh