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Pictured: Prunus virginiana — the species. This variety isn’t separately illustrated.
Rosaceae family

Western Chokecherry (var. demissa) Prunus virginiana var. demissa variety

Native
USDA livestock toxicity rating — not a pet assessment. See the Toxicity detail further down for what's documented.

Western Chokecherry (var. demissa) is a perennial tree native to Canada and the lower 48 states. It grows to 20 ft and blooms Apr in full sun – part shade, with red fruit. A keystone plant for native insects and the food web.

Growing & care

USDA PLANTS · TRY
Conditions
Sources · Conditions
USDA PLANTS — Sun · Soil & moisture
USDA — SoilPH — Soil pH
USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503) — Fertility Requirement / Soil Adaptation — Fertility need · Adapts to
USDA — Temp-Min °F — Hardiness
Sun
Full sun – part shade
Soil & moisture
Medium moisture
Soil pH
5.5–8
Fertility need
Medium
Adapts to
Coarse (sandy), Medium (loam), Fine (clay)
Hardiness
USDA zone 4+
Size & form
Sources · Size & form
USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503) — Height, Mature — Height
USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503) — Planting Density (per acre) — Spacing
USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503) — Growth Rate / Spread / Growth Form / Lifespan / Active Growth Period / Seed Period — Spread · Growth rate · Growth form · Active growth
USDA PLANTS — Lifespan
USDA PLANTS — FoliageTexture — Foliage
USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503) — Fruit/Seed Color / Fruit Persistence — Fruit
Lifespan: USDA’s lifespan scale for trees: short = under ~100 years · moderate = 100–250 · long = over 250. Balsam fir and other short-lived conifers are genuinely short for a tree, not short like an annual.
Height
20 ft
Spacing
4–8 ft apart from USDA planting density
Spread
Moderate
Growth rate
Rapid
Growth form
Thicket-forming
Lifespan
Perennial · short-lived
Foliage
medium texture
Active growth
Spring & summer
Fruit
Red
In the garden
Sources · In the garden
USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503) — Propagation Method / Commercial Availability — Propagate by · In the trade
USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503) — Germination (cold stratification) — Seed starting
USDA PLANTS — Seed Period — Seeds ripen
USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503) — Foliage Texture / Browse Palatability / Resprout — Deer browsing · Resprouts if cut
Propagate by
Seed, Bare root, Container
Seed starting
Needs cold stratification a cold-moist spell before it germinates
Seeds ripen
Summer seed-collection / harvest window
In the trade
Routinely available
Deer browsing
Medium moderately palatable
Resprouts if cut
Yes regrows after top-kill
Sub-canopy / understory layer — Sits in the understory of a layered food forest or polyculture.Open guide →
derived roles
The garden year bloom → fruit → fall colour
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Bloom
Fruit
Bloom (the flower's colour) Ripe fruit
Bloom · Apr — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503) — BloomPeriod
Fruit · approximate season (USDA Seed Period), clamped to after bloom
When to sow · for your area

Sow timing keys off your local last- and first-frost dates.

Species characteristics from USDA PLANTS (public domain) + TRY (CC BY) — general guidance, not a guarantee for your exact site. Deer "browsing" is documented palatability, not a deer-proof claim.

Wildlife & pollinators

How pollinator value is scored →
❧ Caterpillar hosts ~456 caterpillar species · keystone genus

Prunus supports ~456 caterpillar species.

Native butterfly & moth caterpillars are the base of the terrestrial food web — most songbirds rear their young almost entirely on them. As a host for native Lepidoptera this is a powerhouse genus.

Recorded feeding on Prunus in North America, including:

Abagrotis alternata · Greater Red Dart Abagrotis barnesi · owlet moth Abagrotis cupida · Cupid Dart Abagrotis orbis · owlet moth Acerra normalis · owlet moth Acharia stimulea · Saddleback Caterpillar Moth
+ 8 more species →
Acleris celiana · leafroller moth Acleris flavivittana · Masked Leafroller Acleris fragariana · leafroller moth Acleris holmiana · leafroller moth Acleris laterana · leafroller moth Acleris logiana · leafroller moth Acleris maximana · leafroller moth Acleris minuta · Yellowheaded Fireworm Moth
Keystone count (genus-level) from Warren II 2026 (CC0) · Tallamy host-use records. Named species (a documented Nearctic sample, not exhaustive) from NHM HOSTS (CC0).
Species thumbnails re-hosted from iNaturalist — Creative Commons, credited per image (hover for credit). Click any species to see it on iNaturalist. Not exhaustive; many taxa have no openly-licensed photo yet.
Sources for this entry (24) Open & cited
[01] Scientific name & family — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[02] Growth habit & duration — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[03] Native status & distribution — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[04] Common name — USDA PLANTS (via GBIF)
[18] Invasive / introduced status — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503) — native status
[19] Ecological value — Warren II 2026 (CC0) · Tallamy host-use counts
[20] Conservation rank — NatureServe Explorer (CC BY)
[22] Caterpillar host count — Warren II 2026 (Dryad, CC0) · Tallamy host-use counts
[23] Caterpillar species — NHM HOSTS (CC0)
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