• WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE
• IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE
• PALATABILITY
• NUTRITIONAL VALUE
• COVER VALUE
• VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES
• OTHER USES AND VALUES
• MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS

WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE:

Chokecherry wood is heavy, hard and close-grained, but rarely develops a trunk large enough to be commercially useful [116].

IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE:

Chokecherry is widely regarded as an important wildlife food plant and provides habitat, watershed protection, and species diversity [36,92,121,140,147]. Fruits, leaves, and twigs are utilized. Large mammals including bears [34,83,124], moose [69,118,120,144], coyotes [38], bighorn sheep [154,160], pronghorn [41], elk [32,49,74,88,94], and deer use chokecherry as browse [7,8,26,132,,146,147,148,149,150,156]. Chokecherry is also a food source for small mammals [37,38,62,70]. The fruits are important food for many birds [15,20,54,103]. Cattle and domestic sheep also eat chokecherry, and because of its toxicity (see below), poisoning sometimes occurs. Livestock normally do not eat fatal quantities except when other forage is scarce [66,116,166].

PALATABILITY:

Chokecherry is moderately palatable to all classes of livestock, although it is more heavily browsed by domestic sheep than by cattle [36,140]. It is a preferred mule deer browse on many winter ranges throughout the Intermountain West and Northern Great Plains [39,42].

The palatability of chokecherry to livestock and wildlife has been rated as follows [42]:

                     CO     MT     ND     UT     WY 
Cattle               Fair   Fair   Fair   Fair   Fair
Domestic sheep       Good   Good   Good   Fair   Good
Horses               Poor   Poor   ----   Poor   Poor
Pronghorn            ----   ----   Good   Poor   Poor
Elk                  Poor   Fair   ----   Good   Fair
Mule deer            Fair   Fair   Good   Good   Good
Small mammals        Good   Good   ----   Good   Good
Small nongame birds  Good   Good   ----   Good   Good
Upland game birds    Fair   Good   Good   Good   Good
Waterfowl            ----   ----   ----   Poor   Poor

NUTRITIONAL VALUE:

The nutritional value of chokecherry is relatively high in comparison with that of other western browse species [19,88,168]. It has 38.8% dry matter digestibility and is 8.7% crude protein [35]. Crude protein levels do not appreciably decrease as winter progresses [39]. Dittberner and Olson [42] rate chokecherry good in energy value and poor in protein value. Seasonal trends in the nutritive content of chokecherry leaves and stems in the Black Hills of South Dakota are presented below. Units are in percent, on an oven-dry basis [39].

                Spring          Summer         Fall        
                leaves/stems    leaves/stems   leaves/stems
crude protein   21.9/17.4       15.2/9.5        6.6/8.8      
cellulose       12.3/19.7       12.6/22.8      14.7/24.2      
ash              5.9/5.4         6.2/4.3        6.1/3.0     
calcium         1.12/0.9         1.8/1.5       2.33/1.66      
phosphorus      0.51/0.41       0.39/0.21      0.37/0.21      

COVER VALUE:

Chokecherry provides important cover and habitat for many bird species [115,116,117,118,119,120,121,122,123,124], small mammals [4,44,55,139,146,165], large mammals, and livestock [16,24,45,65,66,159]. Chokecherry is an excellent shrub for providing thermal cover and erosion control in fisheries [66]. The degree to which chokecherry provides cover for wildlife species is as follows [42]:

                     CO     MT     ND     UT     WY 
Pronghorn            ----   Fair   Good   Poor   Fair  
Elk                  Good   Fair   ----   Good   Good 
Mule deer            Good   Good   Good   Good   Good
White-tailed deer    Good   Good   Good   ----   Good
Small mammals        Good   Good   ----   Good   Good
Small nongame birds  Good   Good   Good   Good   Good 
Upland game birds    Good   Good   Good   Good   Good
Waterfowl            ----   ----   ----   Poor   Poor

VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES:

Chokecherry has been selected as a revegetation species for wildlife habitat [110,127,166], shelterbelts [131], mine spoils [109], and soil stabilization [102,104,131]. Chokecherry exhibited salt tolerance in a greenhouse study [155].

Chokecherry can be propagated from seed or rhizome cuttings [60,91,102,108,129,134,166]. About half of unstratified seed germinates within 60 days of collection; delayed germination can occur up to 120 days of sowing [166]. More consistent germination is achieved following cool, moist stratification lasting from 120 to 160 days at 36 to 41 degrees Fahrenheit (2.2-5 ^oC) [60,108,109]. In a heat-treatment field study, using thermocouples inserted into seedcoats, chokecherry germination was doubled to quadrupled by temperatures ranging from 180 to 280 degrees Fahrenheit (82-138 ^oC)[127].

Nursery-grown seedlings of chokecherry establish satisfactorily if planted free of competition on sites with at least 15 inches (38 cm) of annual precipitation. Young plants are not tolerant of competing vegetation for 2 to 3 years following planting [110].

OTHER USES AND VALUES:

Chokecherry plants are widely used as ornamentals. Chokecherry produces an abundance of attractive white flowers characterized by a strong, sweet, almondlike fragrance. This species is also valued for its fruit. Plantings increase habitat and natural food supplies for birds frequenting residential areas. Chokecherry is extensively planted for windbreaks in the prairie, plains, and western mountains [166]. Chokecherries are edible and, although somewhat astringent, are relatively sweet when fully ripe. Fruits are used to make wines, syrups, jellies, and jams. Indigenous peoples gathered chokecherries and used them to make pemmican and treat cold sores [68,84,147]. The Paiutes made a medicinal tea from the leaves and twigs to treat colds and rheumatism [113].

MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS:

Grazing: Chokecherry is moderately tolerant of browsing [66], but heavy grazing by livestock and wild ungulates has impacted populations in many areas, especially the northern Great Plains [64,65,81,98,179].

Chokecherry foliage can be poisonous to grazing livestock [78,106,116,153]. Research has identified the toxic compound in chokecherry as the cyanogenic glycoside prunasin [101]. One-half gram of prunasin can produce approximately 46 mg of hydrogen cyanide (HCN); daily doses of 50 mg HCN/1 kg body weight are considered dangerous. Hydrogen cyanide is liberated either in the plant as a result of frost damage or in the animal during digestion. Results of that study indicated that prunasin concentrations are highest (5%) in the new stems and newly initiated leaves of chokecherry. Elevated levels (greater than 2.5%) are maintained in the leaves throughout the summer, but prunasin content of new twigs gradually diminishes over the season. The previous season's growth is generally not as toxic (1.2 to 2.2%) [166].

Pest management concerns: Chokecherry can be controlled by herbicides or plowing [116]. In the northeastern United States chokecherry is a primary host of the eastern tent caterpillar [164].

Chokecherry is susceptible to attack by the fungus Plowrightia stansburiana, which causes knotlike cankers to develop on stems. This condition eventually kills infected stems [92]. Afflicted plants usually have a shortened life span [166].

Related categories for SPECIES: Prunus virginiana | Chokecherry