I did a post this morning of a shrub that was quickly identified as a chokecherry bush. Along the same trail are these shrubs that I think are chokecherries as well but a different species. I want to be sure as a friend wants to do jam and we do have a lot of Buckthorn in the same area.
These look more like pin cherries. It's something of a commercial site, but you might want to browse through Ontario Trees and Shrubs. An excellent resource which may be in your local library is Soper's Shrubs of Ontario.
Axel, of the cherries, is it only P. serotina that has sepals attached to the fruit? Is there an online reference that goes into that level of detail on these bird cherries that all look alike to me? What about Prunus emarginata - bitter cherry - for this?
To see keys that separate PP. padus, pensylvanica, virginiana etc. look at a copy of Rehder's Manual.
The species in the photo very closely matches P. virginiana as described and pictured in my ancient copy of "Native Trees of Canada". It doesn't look at all like P. pensylvanica, which has fruit on a long stalk, and P. emarginata's range in Canada is limited to BC. The only other cherry in the book is P. serotina, which is described as having a large calyx at the base of the fruit (same thing as the sepals mentioned by Alex).
Yes, now that I've looked at the Illustrated Flora of BC key closely -- more like Prunus virginiana, since the fruit is emerging from old wood (compared against P. pensylvanica).
I thank each and everyone of you for your valued judgment on the berries. I take it that it is chokecherry and can be picked. Thanks again
