Trees & Shrubs of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden

Serviceberries (or Juneberries) are native deciduous shrubs with edible fruit. Shadblow Serviceberry has a suckering habit but can grow to the size of small tree with multiple upright stems reaching to 25 feet high. To make the species into a tree shape, the stems must be trained as its tendency is to be a multi-stemmed shrub.

The bark is smooth on young stems, ashy-gray with darker (but faint) stripes. On mature stems it splits and furrows becoming rough.

Twigs are slender and flexible, reddish-brown with fine hair. The buds are long and pointed, with scales that have reddish-yellow to reddish-green margins and usually the margins have some to very much hair. New growth is green.

The leaves are alternate, simple, ovate in shape, 2 to 4 inches long, with a finely toothed margin. The tip forms an abrupt point, the base is somewhat rounded. The vein pattern is pinnate, the upper surface a dull medium green while the underside is paler with fine hair. The leaves are folded lengthwise down the middle in the buds (said to be 'conduplicate') rather than arranged in overlapping scales.

The inflorescence is a short dense raceme, 2 to 3 inches long, at the end of the twigs before the leaves unfurl or with the leaves in the northern part of the plants range. The inflorescence can be quite hairy as the flowers and the new leaves open up. Most hair then drops away and the leaves become smooth on the upper surface.

The flowers of Amelanchier are showy. The five white petals of the corolla are narrowly oblong, and the five lobes of the calyx are reflexed at flowering forming 5 conspicuous teeth which are hairy on inside and outside surfaces. Flowers usually have 19 to 21 tamens with yellow-green filaments and yellow anthers and the pistil from the ovary usually has 5 yellow-green styles (6 possible).

Fruit: Flowers mature to a 1/4 - 3/8 inch pome (berry-like) clustered like the flowers on short stalks, turning to red or purple-black in late summer. Each pome contains about 4 to 10 seeds. Fruits are edible. Seed needs up to 60 days cold stratification to break dormancy. Sow fresh berries or seeds in the fall and let them overwinter.

Varieties: Two are accepted in North America: var. canadensis (which is in the photos here) and var. obovalis: The latter is a shorter plant, usually with stolons, the petals are smaller and the inforescence is smaller. Key in (Ref. #W7, volume 9).

 

Habitat: Shadblow Serviceberry grows in average moist - wet mesic to dry mesic - but well drained soils, primarily as an understory shrub. It has a high tolerance for shade but needs partial sun. In full sun the plant must have adequate moisture or it will defoliate. It is not tolerant of drought, air pollution or compacted soils. It's native habitat is wet marshes and swamps.

Names: The Serviceberry genus, Amelanchier, is from the old French word amelancier, the name of A. ovalis from Provence. The species, canadensis, means 'of Canada'. The common name of 'Serviceberry' is derived from the flower clusters being gathered for use in church services in times past. The common name of 'Shadblow' comes from the East Coast where the shrub flowers in June at the time of the running of the river herring (Atlantic Shad).

The author names for the plant classification are as follows: First to classify, in 1753 assigning the name Mespilus canadensis was '(L.)', which refers to refers to Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), Swedish botanist and the developer of the binomial nomenclature of modern taxonomy. His work was amended in 1793 by 'Medik’, which is for Friedrich Kasimir Medikus (1738-1808) German botanist, director of the University of Heidelberg and curator of the botanical garden at Mannheim.

Comparisons: The Serviceberries have a similar form, flower structure and fruit. The complete list of those found in Minnesota is given below. A. canadensis flowers about a week later that A. arborea.