Small ripe cherries range in color from purple to black.
Leaves are dark green and glossy.
Western chokecherry and black chokecherry cause livestock poisoning when drought and overgrazing reduce the availability of grasses and other forage. Animals become poisoned if they eat large quantities of the leaves in a short time. Both sheep and cattle may be poisoned by chokecherry. Although most losses occur when feed is scarce, a few animals seem to prefer this plant to other forage. Cattle sometimes are poisoned by eating leaves on branches trimmed from cultivated chokecherry trees.