11 



CHOKECHERRIES: HOW TO RECOGNIZE AND GET RID OF THEM 



Georgene Moizuk Bramlage 

 Leverett, MA 



The importance of being able to identify chokecherry trees is 

 that they serve as alternate hosts for X-disease, a very destructive 

 disease of peach, nectarine, sweet cherry, and tart cherry trees. 

 If the leaves of a wild cherry tree turn red or yellow in July or 

 August when the leaves of other trees are still green, this is 

 evidence that the tree is an X-disease -infected chokecherry. 



Control of X-disease of stone fruits demands control of choke- 

 cherries. All chokecherry trees within at least 500 feet of any 

 stone fruit trees or future stone fruit site should be completely 

 eradicated. However, since neither the rum cherry nor the pin 

 cherry harbors X-disease, these trees are perfectly harmless to 

 stone fruit orchards . Illustrations and descriptions of these 

 three kinds of cherry trees can be found below^ 



The easiest way for the "novice' 

 is by their fruit and fruiting habit 

 is borne in an umbel 



to identify the cherry trees 

 The fruit of the pin cherry 



The fruit 



raceme 



the 



both the 



^ 



rum cherry and 

 but the calyx 



rum cherry. 



choke cherry is 

 cup persists on 



borne in a 

 the fruit of 



Prunus serotino 

 block/ rum cherry 



Fig. 1 . The leaf shape of 

 cherry is long and narrow, 



the rum 

 and the 

 turn inward, 

 with 



shiny 



serrations are dull and 



The leaves are thick and 



dense, reddish brown pubescence (fuzz) 

 along the back of the midrib. The 

 glands on the leaf stem are either 

 small and inconspicuous, or absent . 

 The fruit is borne in a raceme and 

 ripens in late summer . The calyx 

 cu p persists on the Truit . Rum cherry 

 may grow into a tree up to 50 feet or 

 more , and the bark on a two year old 

 or older tree is dark brown to black , 

 and the lenticels on the bark are 

 small and numerous. 



Fig. 1 



