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Aronia arbutifolia

(L.) Pers.

Red Chokeberry

G5Secure Found in 5 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
UnknownThreat Impact
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.150578
Element CodePDROS06010
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVascular Plant
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomPlantae
PhylumAnthophyta
ClassDicotyledoneae
OrderRosales
FamilyRosaceae
GenusAronia
Synonyms
Photinia pyrifolia(Lam.) Robertson & Phipps
Other Common Names
Aronie à feuilles d'arbousier (FR) red chokeberry (EN)
Concept Reference
Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
Taxonomic Comments
FNA (vol. 9, 2014) transfers Photinia pyrifolia (name used by Kartesz, 1999) to Aronia arbutifolia.
Conservation Status
Rank Method Rank calculation - Biotics v2
Review Date2024-08-08
Change Date1988-07-28
Edition Date2024-08-08
Edition AuthorsN. Ventrella (2024)
Threat ImpactUnknown
Range Extent>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)
Number of Occurrences> 300
Rank Reasons
Aronia arbutifolia is a shrub occurring in peatlands, bogs, fens, swampy thickets, flooded woodlands, and beaver-ponds of eastern North America from Ontario east to Nova Scotia, Canada, south to Florida, and west to Oklahoma and Texas in the United States. There are 900 estimated occurrences of this species, which are threatened by by development, rights-of-way maintenance, invasive species, and succession. With a large range extent, high number of occurrences, abundant habitat, broad habitat preferences, and no obvious intrinsic vulnerabilities, this species is considered secure.
Range Extent Comments
Aronia arbutifolia occurs in eastern North America from Ontario east to Nova Scotia, Canada, south to Florida, and west to Oklahoma and Texas in the United States, though its distribution in Maine is uncertain as no specimens are known (FNA 2014). Range extent was estimated to be over 3 million square kilometers using herbarium specimens and NatureServe Network occurrence data collected between 1993 and 2024 (GBIF 2024, NatureServe 2024, SEINet 2024).
Occurrences Comments
By applying a 1 km separation distance to herbarium records and photo-based observations documented between 1993 and 2024, there are estimated to be 900 occurrences rangewide (GBIF 2024, iNaturalist 2024, SEINet 2024).
Threat Impact Comments
Although threats are not widely documented, Aronia arbutifolia is potentially threatened by development, rights-of-way maintenance, invasive species, succession, and other threats in some places. However, their overall impact is likely negligible given the species' broad range, large number of occurrences, tolerance of light disturbance, and affinity for typically abundant habitats, as well as no obvious intrinsic vulnerabilities.
Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Aronia arbutifolia occurs in "swamps, wet thickets, peatland pocosins, bogs, fens, wet pine flatwoods, margins of freshwater wetlands, beaver ponds, mixed loblolly pine, Magnolia virginiana-Rhus vernix-swamps, black gum swamps" (FNA 2014).
Terrestrial Habitats
Forest/WoodlandForest - Mixed
Palustrine Habitats
HERBACEOUS WETLANDFORESTED WETLANDBog/fenRiparian
Other Nations (2)
United StatesN5
ProvinceRankNative
New YorkS4Yes
New HampshireSNRYes
ArkansasSNRYes
VermontSNRYes
FloridaS4Yes
MichiganSNRYes
New JerseyS5Yes
PennsylvaniaS5Yes
KentuckyS4Yes
District of ColumbiaSNRYes
AlabamaSNRYes
South CarolinaS5Yes
MarylandSNRYes
North CarolinaS5Yes
West VirginiaS4Yes
VirginiaS5Yes
Rhode IslandSNRYes
MississippiSNRYes
ConnecticutSNRYes
LouisianaSNRYes
OklahomaS1Yes
MassachusettsSNRYes
TexasSNRYes
OhioS1Yes
GeorgiaS5Yes
DelawareS5Yes
TennesseeSNRYes
CanadaN4
ProvinceRankNative
QuebecS4Yes
Nova ScotiaS4Yes
OntarioSUYes
Threat Assessments
ThreatScopeSeverityTiming
Unknown/undetermined———

—

Plant Characteristics
DurationPERENNIAL
Economic Value (Genus)No
Roadless Areas (5)
Florida (1)
AreaForestAcres
SavannahApalachicola National Forest1,927
Georgia (1)
AreaForestAcres
Kelly RidgeChattahoochee National Forest8,325
North Carolina (1)
AreaForestAcres
Linville Gorge AdditionPisgah National Forest2,809
Virginia (1)
AreaForestAcres
Kelley MountainGeorge Washington National Forest7,590
West Virginia (1)
AreaForestAcres
Canaan LoopMonongahela National Forest7,867
References (6)
  1. Flora of North America Editorial Committee (FNA). 2014b. Flora of North America north of Mexico. Vol. 9. Magnoliophyta: Picramniaceae to Rosaceae. Oxford University Press, New York. xxiv + 713 pp.
  2. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). 2024. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) data portal. Online. Available: https://www.gbif.org/ (accessed 2024).
  3. Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
  4. Kartesz, J.T. 1999. A synonymized checklist and atlas with biological attributes for the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. First edition. In: Kartesz, J.T., and C.A. Meacham. Synthesis of the North American Flora, Version 1.0. North Carolina Botanical Garden, Chapel Hill, N.C.
  5. NatureServe. 2024. NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia.
  6. Southwest Environmental Information Network (SEINet). 2024. Collections Databases. Online. Available: https://swbiodiversity.org/seinet/collections/index.php (accessed 2024).