Aronia melanocarpa (Michx.) Elliott

black chokeberry

Swamps, marshes, wet thickets, lakes edges, peatlands, rock outcrops, rocky summits, pine barrens, and sandy forests.

Tree, Shrub

Perennial

Vascular

7

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Robertson et al. (1991) lump Photinia and Aronia together under the genus Photinia stating that the flowers and fruits are "indistinguishable". Kalkman (2004) agreed with Robertson et al.’s (1991) taxonomy (albeit uneasily and called for a "badly needed" worldwide monograph) but showed that if this taxonomy is followed, Aronia is the older name and therefore has priority. Since Kalkman’s (2004) publication an overview of the phylogeny of the Rosaceae was undertaken based on molecular work (Potter et al. 2007). The latter study found Aronia and Photinia to be distinct. Following the taxonomy of Potter et al. (2007) or Kalkman (2004), Aronia becomes the name for our native species. Nesom and Gandhi (2009) demonstrate that there are some issues related to the typification of the genus Photinia and propose conserving the name based on an Asian species P. glabra (Thunb.) Franch. & Sav. This proposal does not impact the names of our native taxa.

Native FAC, FACW- (NWPL) FAC (NWPL EMP) FAC (NWPL NCNE) S5 (State Rank) G5 (Global Rank)

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