# Yard tree



## kweinert (Apr 14, 2017)

If this is insufficient to identify I'll update tomorrow when it's light out again. 

It is sweet smelling but not over powering.

Reactions: Like 1


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## ripjack13 (Apr 14, 2017)

Looks like a lilac tree...

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Lou Currier (Apr 15, 2017)

Definitely Lilac.


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## ripjack13 (Apr 15, 2017)

Paul is unavailable for a lil while. So he said 
@Mr. Peet could fill in for him if we got stuck.


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## kweinert (Apr 15, 2017)

I had never heard of lilac *trees *(bushes, sure) but it could certainly be one. Did some reading on it and if it is one it's blooming early this year. This is our first spring in the house which is why this question came up. 

Looking at many, many pictures of white trees was getting confusing.

Reactions: Like 1


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## kweinert (Apr 15, 2017)

Took a cutting to the local nursery and they identified it as Canadian Chokecherry.

I wouldn't have bugged you folks if I would have known my wife planned on going there this morning.

The one guy said it'd get about 25% larger, both tree size and trunk size.


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## Spinartist (Apr 15, 2017)

WOW!!! looks like spring has arrived!! 

Do "Choke Cherries" produce fruit??


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## kweinert (Apr 15, 2017)

Yes and no. Two people at the nursery identified the tree the same. The one they have on site says it produces small red fruit that birds like. The guy at customer service said they were non-fruit bearing. I'll try to remember to update this thread later on once I know for sure which this is.

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## rocky1 (Apr 15, 2017)

Chokecherries in North Dakota, (_almost Canadian_), do produce a small deep purple fruit. There is however a reason they call it a chokecherry! Extremely bitter and nasty tasting, you don't need to bite into but one to understand it's name, however... with enough sugar added, they make a palatable jelly/jam, pie filling, and they make an ass-kicking wine. Most of which is typically brewed to about 3 - 4 times the normal alcohol content found in wines, by the locals.


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## Mr. Peet (Apr 15, 2017)

@kweinert 

Hello Ken,

I'm still interested in some more pictures. 'Canadian chokecherries' grow far larger than the common 'Chokecherry', _Prunus virginiana_. The nursery men were truthful, there is a fruitless line. The bark is commonly smooth up until 6"-8" DBH, then they start to fissure a bit like black cherry. I've seen them smooth to 12" DBH. The standard often fails to reach 4" DBH. Berries range from black, purplish black, red, orange and tinted toward yellow as well.

The new leaves on the 'Canadian' are light green and darken to a shade of reddish purple. During the growing season, new growth or secondary growth creates an interesting contrast with the two colors. The stand usually has similar green to the common 'Black cherry', however, the standard may show fall colors a month or more ahead of its neighboring trees, before frost.

Reactions: Informative 2


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## kweinert (Apr 15, 2017)

Hope these pictures help.











My wife does recall that the leaves turned a darker red towards the fall. And the tree seemed to hang on to them a long time, later than even the cottonwoods.

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## duncsuss (Apr 15, 2017)

The leaf is nothing like the ones on our lilac bush; these are almond-shaped and serrated edges, ours are closer to heart-shaped, smooth (non-serrated) edges -- they haven't opened up yet so I can't take a pic, but I might be able to find an old one.

_Edit ... found this:


 _

Reactions: Like 1


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## Mr. Peet (Apr 16, 2017)

kweinert said:


> Hope these pictures help.
> 
> View attachment 126254
> View attachment 126255
> ...


Yep Ken, looks like a 'Chokecherry' to me. Likely a different variety than I've handled. Happy Easter. And yes, I have been known to make chokecherry cordial sipping syrup on occasion.

Reactions: Like 1


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## norman vandyke (May 4, 2017)

Wish I'd seem this sooner because that is definitely Canadian chokecherry. We have one in our yard. Great for wine making.


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