Aronia melanocarpa, called the black chokeberry, is a species of shrubs in the rose family native to eastern North America, ranging from Canada to the central United States, from Newfoundland west to Ontario and Minnesota, south as far as Arkansas, Alabama, and Georgia. This plant has been introduced and is cultivated in Europe. It is a branching shrub with glossy dark green leaves that take on a red color in the autumn; it grows well in the sun and part-shade, forming clumps by means of stems rising from the roots, its flowers are white or pink, they appear at the end of spring and produce black fruits in September. Many people consider the fruits to be foul-tasting. Some birds eat the berries.