Index / Search / Prunus virginiana

§1 Plant — species · Rosaceae

Prunus virginiana L.

vernacular chokecherry


USDA
PRVI
GBIF
3022668
Rank
species
chokecherry (Prunus virginiana)
Platephotograph · Dan MullenCC BY-NC-ND source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Shrub, Tree
Duration
Perennial
Group
Dicot
Family
Rosaceae Juss.
Genus
Prunus
§2a

Native status, by region

  • AK Alaska Introduced
  • CAN Canada Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
  • SPM St. Pierre & Miquelon Native

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Medium
Shade
High
Moisture use
Medium
Fire
High
Salinity
Medium
Anaerobic
Medium
CaCO₃
High
Hedging
Low
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-43 °F minimum
Frost-free days
120 min.
Precipitation
13–65 in/yr
pH range
5.2–8.4
Root depth
20 in min.
Fertility need
Medium
Soil texture
coarse, medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Multiple Stem
Growth rate
Rapid
Lifespan
Short
Mature height
25 ft
Height @ 20 y
15 ft
Foliage texture
Medium
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Dense
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
White
Fruit colour
Black
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
Severe
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Mid Spring
Seed abundance
High
Seed begins
Summer
Seed ends
Summer
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
Yes
Seeds / lb
4,971
Propagation
seed, bare root, container
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
No
Browse palatability
High
Graze palatability
Low
Palatable, human
Yes
Protein potential
Medium
Lumber
No
Fuelwood
High
Christmas tree
No

§4Montana distribution

Recorded in 42 of 56 Montana counties.


§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/PRVI ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/3022668 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T16:28:53Z