Shrub · Rosaceae
Black chokeberry
Aronia melanocarpa
Black chokeberry is recorded as native to 24 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 429 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Black chokeberry at a glance
- Native in
- 429 counties, across 24 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 9b PLANTS minimum temperature 24°F
- Mature height
- 6 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade Moisture use not recorded
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 9b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of 24°F; zone 9b winters bottom out at 25°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Black chokeberry is recorded as native to 24 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 429 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 429 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Arkansas 1 county
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 2 counties
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Georgia 6 counties
- Illinois 13 counties
- Indiana 36 counties
- Kentucky 26 counties
- Maine 16 counties
- Massachusetts 14 counties
- Minnesota 18 counties
- Missouri 1 county
- New Hampshire 10 counties
- New Jersey 19 counties
- New York 48 counties
- North Carolina 18 counties
- Pennsylvania 57 counties
- Rhode Island 4 counties
- South Carolina 1 county
- Tennessee 33 counties
- Vermont 12 counties
- Virginia 53 counties
- West Virginia 21 counties
- Wisconsin 19 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Shrub
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 6 ft
- Growth rate
- Not recorded
- Growth form
- Thicket Forming
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Short
- Active growth period
- Not recorded
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- Not recorded
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Medium
- Precipitation range
- 24 to 80 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse and medium
- pH range
- 4.4 to 6.5
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Not recorded
- Salinity tolerance
- Not recorded
- Fertility requirement
- Not recorded
- Minimum root depth
- 24 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- 24°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 9b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 88
- Fire tolerance
- Not recorded
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- White
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Spring
- Foliage color
- Red
- Showy in fall
- Yes
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Blue
Other
- Toxicity
- Slight
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Not recorded
- Family
- Rosaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- ARME6
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Aronia melanocarpa (PLANTS symbol ARME6).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources