Chokecherry

I found a chokecherry shrub growing by the side of the road. I first noticed the berries but also saw how small the "trunk" of it was. Berries are starting to ripen but I believe the birds will get them first. I am guessing they are good to eat, but they are small. Pics attached
I don't remember seeing any cherries on any of the black cherry trees I have.

 

I was told they're called choke cherries for a reason. Lol. Dad always told me not to eat them so I never did

 

From what I recall the flesh is OK to eat and you can actually make jam/jelly with it but DO NOT eat the pits as the same toxins are in the pits as the leaves which also makes horses sick. I don't know if that is rue or not, just what I remember. They probably go thru a bird so quick they don't have a chance to digest any of the pit. LOL

 

The leaves of the black cherry have arsenic in them, it will make a goat sick too.

 

That's what I had heard as well the leaves can make you sick. Any good to burn?

 

Black cherry wood

The leaves ?

Black cherry is good firewood so choke cherry probably is too, if you can find any big enough to be worth your while .

The <thing> with arsenic is it tends to bond with other molecules making different compounds of arsenic which affects its toxicity. You'd think with all this arsenic running off into streams and rivers that fish would be horribly toxic and they are loaded with arsenic but it gets bonded with another molecule in the fish to become arsenobentanoid ( I have spelled that horribly wrong and I'm not looking it up ) which is not toxic as long as that compound doesn't get broken down.

 

Ate choke cherries all time as kids. The deeper color the sweeter it is. Not a sweet berry though. Yes you spit the pits.. Same with regular cherries.. If you need a lot, lay down old sheets and shake the tree.

 

The deer do fine decimating the apples here without any climbing involved.

 

I tried one of the berries today and they still aren't ready. It was very sour/bitter. As far as burning it goes, the trunk could be cut up for kindling with no splitting necessary.

 

Just for clarification, my reference to the trunk being suitable for kindling had to do with the size of the trunk, not the quality of the wood for kindling

 

Love them. Around here, people pick them by the buckets. I make syrup out of ours. In fact I prefer choke cherries to huckleberris anytime.