68 HOW TO KNOW WILD FRUITS 



dark in color and not very thick. The separate 

 fruits are reddish, globose or pear-shaped, and 

 about the size of a large huckleberry. They are 

 sweet but rather dry and astringent. They often 

 remain long on the bushes, as birds do not seem 

 to care for them. 



Leaves. The margins of the oblanceolate or 

 oblong leaves have fine rounded teeth. The 

 petioles are short ; the apex is obtuse or sharply 

 narrowed ; and the base, narrowed. The upper 

 midrib is glandular. The under surface of the 

 leaf is woolly. When the leaves change they 

 assume dark red and orange shades. 



Flowers. The white, rose-shaped flowers 

 grow in compound downy corymbs. 



The chokeberry is a shrub from one to three 

 feet high, occasionally reaching a height of 

 twelve feet. It is largest in swamps and moist 

 thickets but often grows in dry places. It is 

 common from Nova Scotia south, and westward 

 to Minnesota. 



