Chokeberry is a useful shrub, the fruits of which are used in cooking and folk medicine. In this case, there are differences between several varieties of berries, certain rules for harvesting berries, their harvesting. In order not to confuse this shrubbery with other berries that can be dangerous to health, one should look at the photo of the black mountain ash and see its detailed description.
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Despite the name, chokeberry has nothing to do with the ordinary,red ashberry. The correct name of this shrub is Michurin's aronia, the plant was extracted with great difficulty by the breeder Michurin. Thus, the closest relative of the shrub is aronia black-berry, a small unremarkable shrub growing as a weed, mainly in North America.
At the moment, Michurin's aroma has spread across Russia, all over the near abroad. In addition, it can now be found in Canada and the United States. The bushes are extremely unpretentious, chokeberry can grow even on infertile places and on soils with high acidity. Often it is used to create hedges, because this shrub is also decorative.
Varieties
Varieties of shrubs vary little in appearance, unprepared person to distinguish them can be quite difficult. They can only differ slightly in taste, timing of fruiting, some peculiarities of cultivation and care. However, almost all of them are suitable for food and can be used for the preparation of useful traditional medicine.
Important! It should be borne in mind that if you want to plant your own arboreal arboreal bush, you should purchase a variety, the most common in the region. Otherwise, the plant may not settle down.
How does the black ashberry
Shrub has certain features of appearance that you should know about before harvesting. Aronia is a shrub that reaches up to three meters in height, with shallow branched roots. It is worth remembering that it is decorative, the leaf of the black mountain ash in autumn acquires a bright red, rich orange shade.
How does chokeberry grow? The flowers of the chokeberry gather in large inflorescences, umbrellas, which usually include more than twenty flowers. The flowers themselves are small, white, and have a distinct fragrant aroma. Flowering begins in summer, fruits are formed closer to autumn.
Fruit shrubs, large enough berries, are collected in small bunches, they are usually covered in a bluish bloom. Fruits begin to appear at the end of summer, at first they are reddish, then darken. They fully ripen in the autumn, and it is believed that they are the most useful and tasty after the first frost.
Photo
A berry similar to the chokeberry
There is another plant very similar to aronia with appearance and some properties. Irga is a small bush that also fructifies with large dark berries, saturated with useful substances. Sometimes it is very difficult to distinguish between shrubs.
It should be noted that the erga leaves are oval, with jagged edges, the berries are smaller than in the chokeberry. Inflorescences during flowering and a cluster of berries in argi are usually not so large, in the inflorescence often found only 5 to 10 flowers. It should also be noted that the berries are more prolific.
Important! If in doubt, advise to purchase already collected berries and products based on them.
Landing and Care
Usually, first of all, the shrub is planted for decorative purposes, they are included in a hedge or plant a separate bush, both options are considered acceptable. This plant is undemanding to the quality of soils, although it prefers the more humid. The most important thing for black chokeberry is enough light, without good light, the plant will feel bad.
Plant shrubs are advised in the fall, but you can do this until the very beginning of spring. When planting the land should be fertilized, usually use humus, superphosphate, potassium sulfide. After planting, the plant is advised to trim, so that the growth is most pronounced.
It is enough to take care of the plant, the main thing is to water it in sufficient quantity during arid summer and during the formation of fruits. Too much fertilizer is not advised, this can lead to a deterioration in yields. Also, do not forget to trim the plant in time.
How to collect the black ashberry ashberry
The grown fruit should be able to properly assemble, while its useful and taste properties are most pronounced. Also, it often depends on the correctness of the assembly, how much the harvested berry will be stored.
The harvest should be harvested in autumn, although the berries begin to stain in August. Finally, the berry ripens by the end of September, but experts advise waiting for the first frost, after them the fruits are finally ready for assembly.
It is also necessary to remove berries from the bush according to a certain technology, so that they are kept longer, and the plant itself is not damaged and quickly restored. Grapes are advised to cut together with the pedicels, the whole inflorescence, all umbrellas after harvesting should be cut, this ensures a quick restoration of the bush and serves as a preventive measure for a number of diseases.
Collected berries should be stored in a cool dry place, preferably in a dark place, before processing. Before preparing anything from the collected fruits, the berries should be washed and dried.
Important! If the yield is too large, the berries should be cleaned and frozen to use later.
Useful properties
First of all, chokeberry is used for making various jams, compotes, it is used for making pastille, marmalade. Frozen berries almost do not lose their properties, they are often used for cooking warm drinks, grinded with mashed potatoes.
Tinctures on alcohol based on chokeberry ash are also common. In addition to the tincture of alcoholic beverages, home-made wine is prepared on the basis of berry bushes, the technology is extremely simple, almost no special adaptations are required, so beverages from chokeberry are so common.
Therapeutic properties and contraindications
In addition to taste, this plant has extremely pronounced healing properties, it is often used in recipes of traditional medicine. In the berry bushes in large quantities contain various vitamins and minerals that have a general strengthening effect on the body. Various products and products based on chokeberry mountain ash advise people with low immunity, various skin diseases, with hypertension.
However, there are also contraindications to aronia. You should not eat the fruits of chokeberry and products based on it, people with increased blood coagulability, with gastric ulcer, increased acidity, diseases of the duodenum.
It should also be taken into account that prolonged intake of fruits of chokeberry in food can trigger the occurrence of allergic reactions. This berry is useful for moderate use.