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 romided 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. 



