Red Chokeberry

Aronia arbutifolia

Native to: MA, NH, CT, RI, ME

Life cycle: Perennial Shrub

Light: Full/Partial Sun

Soil Moisture: Wet to Dry Soil

Height: 5-12’
Spacing: 4-8’

Blooms: Spring
Bloom Color: White

Fruits: Summer
Fruit Color: Red

Natural Habitat: Human-disturbed or -maintained habitats, bogs, fens, meadows and fields, swamps, woodlands

Benefits: Host Plant, Attracts Songbirds, Attracts Bees, Urban Environment, Compaction Tolerant, Salt Tolerant, Drought Tolerant, Edible, Low Maintenance, Erosion Control/Soil Stabilization, Fall Color

“This attractive, multi-stemmed shrub blends into the landscape when not in flower or fruit. It begins its display with small white flowers and deep red anthers, followed by plentiful red fruits in fall and deep red foliage. This is a great plant for moist to average soils. More sunlight produces more flowers and a deeper red fall color.”

–Native Plant Trust

“Red chokeberry is a multi-stemmed shrub, 6-12 feet (2-4 m) tall, in the rose family. Look for a row of slender glands arrayed along the midvein on the upper side of the leaf. With its masses of delicate white flowers appearing in summer, followed by red berries in early fall, followed by a show of brilliant red leaves in late autumn, and its peeling, reddish bark adding interest in the winter, this is a popular choice as a landscape plant.” –Go Botany

Featured image by Bob Gutowski - originally posted to Flickr as Aronia arbutifolia, Red chokeberry, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4263736