Saskatoon service berry, Shadbush, Amelanchier alnifolia, Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden

(Junebery, Shadbush, Service-berry). This is an edible fruit plant that grows as a shrub or into a small tree up to 20-25 feet high. They can form thickets or clumps, have an extensive underground root system spreading from a large crown, with rhizomes. The bark is light brown, smooth with tinges of red. Leaves are small, alternate, oval to almost round, with toothed edges on the upper half, but some leaves will only have a few small teeth at the top. Leaves have 8-13 pairs of lateral parallel veins. The white flowers occur in upright racemes that contain a dense cluster of 5-15 white petaled flowers with up to 20 stamens. The sepals are strap-like and reflex with age. The fruit are small smooth fleshy berries that mature to a purple-black color with seeds. As the plants will thicket, they be formed into a hedge. Seedlings can take up to five years to form fruit and heavy fruiting occurs only every 3-5 years. The common name refers to the city of Saskatoon in Saskatchewan, Canada which is central the the range of the plant.

	Plants of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden
	Common Name	Scientific Name	Plant Family	Garden Location	Prime Season
	Saskatoon Service-berry	Amelanchier alnifolia (Nutt.) Nutt. ex Roemer	Rose	Woodland	Spring flowering
Other names and notes	(Junebery, Shadbush, Service-berry). This is an edible fruit plant that grows as a shrub or into a small tree up to 20-25 feet high. They can form thickets or clumps, have an extensive underground root system spreading from a large crown, with rhizomes. The bark is light brown, smooth with tinges of red. Leaves are small, alternate, oval to almost round, with toothed edges on the upper half, but some leaves will only have a few small teeth at the top. Leaves have 8-13 pairs of lateral parallel veins. The white flowers occur in upright racemes that contain a dense cluster of 5-15 white petaled flowers with up to 20 stamens. The sepals are strap-like and reflex with age. The fruit are small smooth fleshy berries that mature to a purple-black color with seeds. As the plants will thicket, they be formed into a hedge. Seedlings can take up to five years to form fruit and heavy fruiting occurs only every 3-5 years. The common name refers to the city of Saskatoon in Saskatchewan, Canada which is central the the range of the plant.