chokecherry

noun

Etymology: From choke + cherry, so called from the extreme astringency of the fresh fruit.

1. Any of several American wild cherry trees, especially Prunus virginiana.

   “The youngster-loved chokecherry grows both as a bushy shrub and as a tree seldom higher than 22 feet, its branches bending with clusters of darkening red or blackish purple berrylike drupes . . .”

2. The fruit of this plant.

   “There were handfuls of chokecherries for dessert and a lemonade made from sumac.”