cold / crossover high-desert crop
Chokecherry
Prunus virginiana
A broadly adapted western perennial with exceptional cold hardiness, strong yield potential, and room for fruit-quality selection.
Data: preliminaryBiome fit
Hot high desert
Survival is plausible
Confidence: medium
Hot/cold high desert
Broad soil and climate tolerance make this a crossover candidate.
Confidence: medium
Cold plateau
Cold hardiness and selected fruit cultivars align well with this biome.
Confidence: high
Alpine / short season
Ecologically plausible at elevation
Confidence: medium
Planning profile
| Lifecycle | Perennial |
|---|---|
| Harvested part | fruit |
| Productive winter minimum | -50°F |
| Routine summer maximum | 100°F |
| Annual irrigation | 1.7–2.5 acre-feet/acre |
| Mature yield | 10000–15000 lb/acre |
| Representative density | 605 plants/acre |
Planning values describe productive plantings, not absolute survival limits. Local evapotranspiration, soil, cultivar, plant age, rainfall, and management can materially change them.
Seasonal mature-plant water
| Season | Daily-equivalent gallons per plant |
|---|---|
| Spring | 5–7 |
| Summer | 10–13 |
| Fall | 4–6 |
Daily-equivalent demand is useful for system sizing; actual irrigation may be accumulated into less-frequent, deeper applications.
Potential products
- juice
- syrup
- preserves
- dried fruit
- fermented products
Drought and fire resilience
| Drought tolerance | High Established plants are drought resistant |
|---|---|
| Fire resistance | Unknown No fire-resistance finding is recorded in the current research set. |
Why it belongs
Chokecherry may be the strongest philosophic fit for the cold system: begin with a plant already adapted to difficult western environments, then select it toward a better agricultural product. It combines broad hardiness with potentially strong fruit yield, although productive irrigation remains higher than survival water.
Trial priorities
- Compare improved cultivars for flavor, pit-to-fruit ratio, and harvest efficiency.
- Establish deficit-irrigation yield and fruit-quality curves.
- Test whether selected material can bridge cold plateau and hot/cold desert sites.