Ontario Weeds: Chokecherry
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Excerpt from Publication 505, Ontario Weeds,
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Table of Contents
Name: Chokecherry, Prunus virginiana
L.,
Other Names: cerisier à grappes,
cerisier de virginie
Family: Buckthorn Family (Rhamnaceae)
Similar Species: Is often confused
with the buckthorns because of similar growth form, leaf shape,
and fruit size and colour. However, Chokecherry does not have thorns;
the side veins of its leaves do not curve forward; its blue-black
or deep red fruits have only a single stone; and its young twigs
and leaves have an "almond" odour when crushed.
Caution: Chokecherry leaves and branches
are poisonous to livestock but the flesh of its fruits is wholely
edible. Chokecherry is an alternate host of peach X-disease, a leafhopper-vectored
mycoplasm that causes peach trees to die prematurely.
Related Links
... on general Weed
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... on weed identification, order OMAFRA
Publication 505: Ontario Weeds
... on weed control, order OMAFRA
Publication 75: Guide To Weed Control
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