I finally found the Purple Chokeberry, that is supposed to be a natural hybrid of the Red x Black Chokeberries. Its native range is simil...Read Morear to the Black chokeberry of Nova Scotia down into NC & TN and up into WI and MI. The specimens I photographed in mid-August of 2014 were planted at Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois on the east side just east of Meadow Lake with one group at a small utility spot and a group nearby at the Rare Illinois Plant Collection. They should get 6 to 12 feet high, taller than most of the Black species. The ones I shot were mature but about to 5 feet high at the time. It has slender leaves. Growing at this Midwestern site, it must be good for neutral pH of around 7, maybe even to 7.5, besides acid soils down to pH 5.0. This shrub looks good to me and should be planted much more than it is. Some companies are looking for people to grow this species and the Black species for fruit production, mostly for its juice, full of anti-oxidants.
I finally found the Purple Chokeberry, that is supposed to be a natural hybrid of the Red x Black Chokeberries. Its native range is simil...Read More