Aronia melanocarpa (black chokeberry)

University of Maryland Extension Recommended Native Shrub

Black chokeberry is a small, deciduous shrub that is prized for its Fall display of glossy, inky black fruit against red foliage. Black chokeberry looks best when massed in borders. It adapts to a range of soils as long as they are well-drained. It produces white flowers in mid-Spring. The best flower and fruit displays occur in full sun to partial shade. Black chokeberry is an easy plant that requires little pruning. It can reach heights of 6' or more, forming clumps by means of stems rising from the roots. 

Black chokeberry is native to eastern North America from Canada south to Arkansas, Alabama and Georgia. It is found in swamps, bogs, wet thickets, and the margins of ponds and lakes. Chokeberry flowers March to June, and fruits September to November. Attracts many pollinating insects. Fruits feed numerous local songbirds in Winter. Host plant for the large lace-bordered moth and the coral hairstreak butterfly, which is generally uncommon in Maryland.

BONAP Native Range Map (bright green indicates county native, dark green indicates state native)  

Photo by Kathy Thornton