• Post Reply Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic
permaculture forums growies critters building homesteading energy monies kitchen purity ungarbage community wilderness fiber arts art permaculture artisans regional education skip experiences global resources cider press projects digital market permies.com pie forums private forums all forums
this forum made possible by our volunteer staff, including ...
master stewards:
  • Nancy Reading
  • Carla Burke
  • r ranson
  • John F Dean
  • paul wheaton
  • Pearl Sutton
stewards:
  • Jay Angler
  • Liv Smith
  • Leigh Tate
master gardeners:
  • Christopher Weeks
  • Timothy Norton
gardeners:
  • thomas rubino
  • Jeremy VanGelder
  • Maieshe Ljin

What is this....chokecherry? What should I do with it?

 
Posts: 90
5
7
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Hey there permies, I've got these little guys volunteering in my garden this year (the garden didn't get much attention, as you can see ).  Local friend thought they looked like a "weed" tree she removes.  A farmer friend wasn't positive but reminded me "you shall know them by their fruit"... Don't think I ought to leave them to fruit though, since they're right over the utility easement (power, water, cable, phone, gas...I don't think sewer is back there though).

A bit of poking around and online identifiers leads me to believe they might be chokecherries.  Makes sense, I thought they look vaguely prunish.  I had cherished some hopes of something better, since they're right in the spot where my apple and pear cores and plum pits tend to land.

If they're something productive, I'd like to relocate them.  If not.... well I've thought about putting something out front for summer shade, but my yard is pretty small as it is.  

Zone 6-ish, FWIW.

TIA!
IMG_2341.JPG
I've got these little guys volunteering in my garden
I've got these little guys volunteering in my garden
IMG_2342.JPG
friend thought they looked like a weed tree she removes
friend thought they looked like a weed tree she removes
IMG_2345.JPG
looks like a cherry or cherry relative
looks like a cherry or cherry relative
 
C Jones
Posts: 90
5
7
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Anyone?

Update, I noticed a few other trees in my neighborhood with similar leaves.  One across the street has little berries seemingly quite similar to chokecherries (pics below).  The other one doesn't have any fruits that I've seen.

The leaves certainly look similar, but I'm not sure if they're the same.  The notches on a bunch of mine are what have me the most intrigued, I haven't found any like that yet.   Maybe mine is a chokecherry but a local wild hybrid or something?  That makes the notched leaves?

This stuff is fascinating to me .
IMG_2381.JPG
I noticed a few other trees in my neighborhood with similar leaves
I noticed a few other trees in my neighborhood with similar leaves
IMG_2382.JPG
One across the street has little berries
One across the street has little berries
 
gardener
Posts: 3489
Location: Fraser River Headwaters, Zone3, Lat: 53N, Altitude 2750', Boreal/Temperate Rainforest-transition
689
hugelkultur forest garden fungi trees books food preservation bike solar woodworking
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
looks like a cherry or cherry relative.  The red bark and the leaf shape are very cherry like.  Can't tell you for sure.  There are some non edible cherry family varieties which produce lots of flowers and are great for pollenation.  You might be able to graft choice edible varieties onto the root stock.
 
gardener
Posts: 658
Location: Wheaton Labs, MT and Tularosa, NM
552
10
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I have seen some wild plums with red bark like that. Can't really tell from the leaves in your photos.

One thing i'm sure about is that the second set of photos of your neighbors trees are NOT chokecherries. Chokecherries have the fruits along a raceme (kind of strung out along a main stem), but the fruits you show have several fruit stems meeting at one point. They also don't seem quite the right color for chokecherries. Do they have a big hard pit in the middle? Then, they might be some other kind of cherry. Either way, if they are any kind of cherry, it is likely a bird planted those there in its droppings as it sat on the power line.
 
Posts: 175
22
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I am pretty sure those are apples. The pictures of the leaves look like apples and the pictures of the trees in winter look like they have tiny crabapples all over them. Open up the fruit and see if it is one stone pit or little seeds like an apple.
 
Posts: 2
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
It would help to know where you are.  "Chokecherry" tends to apply, regionally, to several different trees.  The one in our area is pretty much only located in the coastal chapparal of California (Prunus ilicifolia) which has tough, shiny, spiny leaves and a cherry sized fruit - thin skinned and a huge seed.  Honestly, it looks more like a type of hackberry.  They were considered 'trash' trees in the yard (when I lived in Texas), as they were prolific, fast growing, and tended to seed anywhere you didn't want one.  That said, the berries are edible.  I just came across this link looking for info -  http://www.homestead.org/MicahJanzen/Hackberry/HumbleHackberry2.htm
 
C Jones
Posts: 90
5
7
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Thanks a lot everybody!

The ones in my garden (first set of pics), I think I might just remove.  I had figured since they are somewhat established I might transplant them, but not being sure of what they are plus not having much of a spot...

The second set of pics, across the street... here's a pic of the fruit and a seed - two seeds from two fruits I squished, one intact fruit.  Don't know that it matters much but this has been a good exercise for me in studying, trying to identify, etc.  I had thought the same thing as Fred about the long stem/string of berries, so maybe it isn't a "chokecherry" proper.  Regional naming variations etc..... oh well!
QYYW9303.jpeg
two seeds from two fruits I squished, one intact fruit
two seeds from two fruits I squished, one intact fruit
 
Whatever. Here's a tiny ad:
rocket mass heater risers: materials and design eBook
https://permies.com/w/risers-ebook
reply
    Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic