Flower Project

Chokecherry

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Choke Cherry (Prunus virginiana) Shrub grows between 1 and 6 m tall. The leaves are elliptic and pointed at tips, darker above than below, hairless but edges have fine sharp teeth. It blooms in many-flowered, bottlebrush-like clusters at end of branches from May to June.

Fruits are shiny purple to black cherries around 8mm across, ripe in late August. They are edible and can be sweet, but “astringent.” The stones contain hydrocyanic acid and should not be swallowed.

Source: Johnson, Kershaw, MacKinnon, Pojar. Plants of the Western Boreal Forest & Aspen Parkland. Lone Pine Publishing, 1995.

WASKAHEGAN FIELD NOTES

The showy blooms in May accompany us on many Waskahegan trails, in clearings and open forest areas, also on hillsides and dry and exposed locations. Often found alongside High Bush Cranberries and Saskatoons.

Although we are discouraged from picking along the Waskahegan Trail, if you like making jam from wild fruit, Ilona recommends a mixture of Choke Cherry and High Bush Cranberry. After boiling with only a small amount of sugar, you need to pass the fruit through a colander to remove the seeds.

  • Chokecherry in bloom
  • Chokecherry fruit
  • Chokecherry fruit

Our Violets

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Canada Violet (Viola canadensis) is a common perennial that grows 10 – 40 cm tall, depending on surrounding plant growth. The plant arises from short, thick rhizomes, often with slender creeping runners that can be seen if you gently brush away dead leaves. The heart-shaped leaves (sharply pointed tips and saw-toothed edges) and the white 5-petal flower with its yellow centre—purplish lines on the lower three petals—are the main characteristics for identification. (Source: Plants of Southern Interior British Columbia).

WASKAHEGAN FIELD NOTES

You will spot these bright flowers in shady, moist usually deciduous woods and along the trails in late spring. Distinguish this violet from the also common Early Blue Violet (Viola adunca) that are overall shorter, have smaller oval leaves and blue to deep violet flowers, and are among the first to appear along the trails – see below.