April 23: Chokecherry Tree and Red-Berried Elder

I know I'm stepping back a few weeks in time here, but it took me a while to identify these plants. Thank you to Mary of Wild Ones Red Cedar Chapter for helping me after I finally gave up trying to find the answers myself!

The first shows the beautiful blossoms of the Chokecherry tree.

Chokecherry Tree

The Chokecherry  tree is an important wildlife food for deer (and for bear, moose, bighorn sheep, pronghorn, and elk) but cattle and domestic sheep which eat Chokecherry can get poisoned if they eat too much. All of the tree is toxic, especially during spring and summer. By the time its berries mature, the leaves are nontoxic but the berries are poisonous. Native Americans used the bark and roots as medicine -- you can read more here.

The second plant is the Red-Berried Elder, a bush.

Red-Berried Elder

This is another plant which is very useful to wildlife but is toxic to us. The red berries, which are poisonous to humans, are eaten nonetheless by ruffed grouse, American robins, Swainson's thrush, veery, cedar waxwings, and rose-breasted grosbeaks, as well as squirrels, chipmunks, skunks, raccoons, snowshoe hare and red foxes. Many of these animals also use the bush for cover.