As I increase the number of articles on this website, I will also increase the topics, species, and coverage of our wild foods. That will include articles about Colorado's many delicious wild fruits and berries! I have the most articles about mushrooms because that's really the subject that I'm most passionate about. Still, I have touched on berries in the past with my article on one of our high-elevation currant species, Ribes montigenum. Let's add to that list with this article on chokecherry!
Chokecherry is one of the most common native Prunus species in Colorado and much of North America. The Prunus genus is in the rose family, Rosaceae, and includes all the stone fruits we're familiar with, such as plums, cherries, peaches, and even almonds! These fruits are botanically known as drupes, which are fruits with fleshy pulp surrounding a single pit. We'll cover this more when we review the identifying features of chokecherry.
Chokecherry is a fairly straightforward plant to identify, so it's a great species for beginning foragers to learn! Look for the following traits when identifying chokecherry:
In the spring, small, 5-petalled, white flowers with yellow centers that are borne on a cylindrical structure called a 'raceme'.
The bark of Prunus species has structures called lenticels, which appear as small raised warts along the trunks and branches.
Alternate leaves that are finely serrated and generally oval.
The cherries are first green in late spring and, through the summer, will ripen to red and eventually dark purple or black, which is when they're ready to pick!
Where to Find Chokecherry
Chokecherries are pretty abundant in Colorado and can be found in a variety of habitats, from urban landscaping to foothills to canyons, and even in random habitats that you wouldn't expect to find where birds have planted them. Our highest elevations are the only places where you won't find chokecherry. I don't usually see them too often above 9,000ft, though I've read that they can grow to 10,000ft in elevation. The most common places where I find chokecherry are along riparian areas or any water, in the Front Range and Foothills. So, if you're looking for chokecherry, it shouldn't take long to locate some!
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Chokecherry Look-alikes
In Colorado, we don't have too many look-alikes to worry about when it comes to chokecherry, as long as you're making sure to check for all of the identifying features! In other states, chokecherry is sometimes confused with black cherry, Prunus serotina, or bird cherry, P. padus. Both of these species can be found in Colorado, but they're almost always going to be in landscaping where they were planted purposefully. These species are usually much larger than chokecherry, which rarely gets to 15 or 20ft in height here. If you find one of these other cherry species, you're lucky because they're also edible!
Some non-Prunus species that confuse people include chokeberry, Aronia species, and buckthorn, Rhamnus species. The latter is not very common in Colorado, but it is a significant problem in some midwestern and eastern states as a damaging invasive. The former, chokeberry, can be found in Colorado, and it is probably confused with chokecherry more because of its name than its actual appearance. Both plants are in the rose family and have dark purple edible berries when ripe. Both fruits contain antioxidants and are quite astringent, hence the 'choke' part of their name. However, chokeberry fruit is in a corymb structure, a cluster that all lay on the same plane instead of the cylindrical raceme of the chokecherries. They also have multiple seeds inside their fruits!
Finally, you might also happen on a chokecherry with purple leaves! These are called Canada red chokecherries and cultivars that can be purchased at local nurseries and occasionally found in the wild!
Harvesting Chokecherries
Choke cherries typically start to ripen fully in mid-to-late summer. Most years in Colorado, this is around August or September. Harvesting chokecherries can be as simple as plucking them from the clusters by hand. If you want to harvest any more significant quantities, I recommend a berry picker. Berry pickers come in many forms and are often called Swedish berry pickers or berry rakes. They're small boxes with a handle on top and a rake on the underside to pick the berries from the plant as you gently swipe through the foliage. These tools make harvesting large quantities of cherries very simple, but they aren't allowed in some areas, so check the berry-picking regulations before using a rake. For collecting chokecherries last year, I used this berry picker*, and it worked great!
I noticed that the berry picker wires would occasionally get caught on leaves or small branches, so I took a little extra time and worked it around to get the clusters of cherries into the rake whenever possible. This reduces the time savings, but it still makes the process much faster than picking by hand and prevents unnecessary plant damage. The other item I found helpful was a berry sorting and cleaning tray, which you can see in the photo below. Like the picker linked above, this is from a company called Linden, but I couldn't find them in stock, so you'll have to search if you want one.
How to Use Chokecherries
So, what's next after you've found, identified, and picked some chokecherries? If you've picked a lot of them, you can clean and freeze them to store for later use. Last year, I froze around 12 pounds of chokecherries in vacuum-sealed bags, and we have been using them to try our hand at making wine! These frozen cherries can be used in any application that calls for fresh ones, so it's a great way to save them for later inspiration.
Chokecherries are best in sugar-added applications and infusions because of their tart and astringent nature. Here are some ideas and links to recipes from some of my favorite foragers!
Some of these are Amazon affiliate links which gives me a small percentage of the purchase but doesn't cost you anything extra. Thank you if you decide to purchase anything!
Chokecherry jelly is a great way to use a larger harvest. There are many recipes online! A steam juicer*, a recent addition to our kitchen, can help to efficiently extract juice from the cherries! Here's a little post about steam juicers from Ellen Zachos.
Chokecherry wine is another fun way to use your harvest. Our first try was a bit too tannic for us, so I won't link any recipes here yet. There are plenty to be had online, though!
Chokecherry Bounce from Ellen Zachos. I made this last year, and it's delicious. The wait is well worth it!
Chokecherry Gastrique from Alan Bergo. This one is another that I would recommend trying! The result is a versatile sauce that can be used in various applications. I've used mine to drizzle over game meat, as the finishing touch for some homemade vanilla ice cream with candied nuts, or as a flavor addition to a glass of sparkling water!
Chokecherry Vinegar from Alan Bergo. After you juice your cherries for jelly, use the scraps to make vinegar! You could also put some fresh cherries into vinegar to infuse it instead of making it from scratch.
There are many other great uses for your chokecherry harvest, but those should at least get you started! Chokecherry is such a lovely wild fruit, and it offers an excellent challenge in that it isn't great to eat right off the tree. It makes you work on those kitchen skills, which end up coming in handy for all sorts of other foraged goodies!
Foraging Calendar
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