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When those gatherings finally happen, “spirit plates” — with the ancestors’ favorite foods, such as fried ribs, chokeberry jams and roasted buffalo — are served for attendees.

The chokeberry is another useful native plant for a full planting bed in wet areas.

The newly released 2020 medalists are the American hornbeam, the black chokeberry Viking, the coreopsis Zagreb, the cranesbill Biokovo, the smooth hydrangea Haas’ Halo and a Russian sage named Little Spire.

The black chokeberry Viking greets the spring with white, apple-like blossoms, black fruit and red fall coloration.

The chokeberry, Pritts says, has the highest-known antioxidant level of any fruit: “It’s off the charts.”