Sometimes Chokecherries grow as shrubs. In the spring, the tree has clusters of 5-petaled, white flowers, and the fruit grows in the summer. The cherry is smaller than most cherries, with a shiny-red skin. When cut open, you should find a pit, not the many seeds of an apple.

Do Chokeberries have pits?

The chokecherry is edible, but not as a whole fruit. Like cherries and apricots, it's not the flesh or skin of the fruit that's toxic; instead, it's the seed or pit.

Do chokecherries have a seed?

The two main distinguishing features of chokecherries are that they grow in bunches and they have a single large seed. ... It also has several small seeds within each fruit. Buckthorn bushes also have lost of intensely sharp thorns that are often several inches long, while chokecherry bushes are completely thornless.