Prunus virginiana

The chokecherry or bitter-cherry is in the rose or Rosaceae family and is native to much of North America. As a shrub or small tree, it reaches up to 5 m tall.

It is in the chokecherry subgenus of the rose family.

• Leaves are alternate, simple, oblong to nearly oval, 5–10 cm long and 3–6 cm broad, with finely serrated margins.
• Flowers are white, 5-petaled, in long terminal racemes, produced in spring shortly after the new leaves appear.
• Fruit is a small, round, dark red to purple drupe about 8 mm in diameter, dangling in clusters, maturing in late summer.
• Twigs are slender; buds about 8 mm long, pointed, with brown scales. Bark is smooth, grey-brown, with conspicuous lenticels.
• Purple-leafed varieties such as Shubert choke cherry (P. virginiana 'Shubert') are popular as garden trees particularly in colder interior regions of Canada. Shubert sometimes mistaken for the Purple-leaf plum (P. ceracifera) or the purple-leaf sand cherry (P. sistena).