''Amelanchier'' ( ), also known as shadbush, shadwood or shadblow, serviceberry or sarvisberry (or just sarvis), juneberry, saskatoon, sugarplum, wild-plum or chuckley pear,A Digital Flora of Newfoundland and Labrador Vascular Plants

/ref> is a genus of about 20 species of deciduous-leaved

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

s and small trees in the rose family (

Rosaceae Rosaceae (), the rose family, is a medium-sized family of flowering plants that includes 4,828 known species in 91 genera. The name is derived from the type genus ''Rosa''. Among the most species-rich genera are ''Alchemilla'' (270), ''Sorbus ...

). ''Amelanchier'' is native to temperate regions of the

Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the Equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined as being in the same celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the solar system as Earth's Nort ...

, growing primarily in early successional habitats. It is most diverse taxonomically in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, especially in the northeastern United States and adjacent southeastern Canada, and at least one species is native to every U.S. state except Hawaii and to every Canadian province and territory. Two species also occur in Asia, and one in Europe. The taxonomic classification of shadbushes has long perplexed botanists, horticulturalists, and others, as suggested by the range in number of species recognized in the genus, from 6 to 33, in two recent publications. A major source of complexity comes from the occurrence of

hybridization Hybridization (or hybridisation) may refer to: *Hybridization (biology), the process of combining different varieties of organisms to create a hybrid *Orbital hybridization, in chemistry, the mixing of atomic orbitals into new hybrid orbitals *Nu ...

, polyploidy, and

apomixis In botany, apomixis is asexual reproduction without fertilization. Its etymology is Greek for "away from" + "mixing". This definition notably does not mention meiosis. Thus "normal asexual reproduction" of plants, such as propagation from cuttin ...

(asexual seed production), making species difficult to characterize and identify.University of Maine
''Amelanchier'' Systematics and Evolution
/ref> The various species of ''Amelanchier'' grow to 0.2–20 m tall; some are small trees, some are multistemmed, clump-forming shrubs, and yet others form extensive low shrubby patches ( clones). The

bark Bark may refer to: * Bark (botany), an outer layer of a woody plant such as a tree or stick * Bark (sound), a vocalization of some animals (which is commonly the dog) Places * Bark, Germany * Bark, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland Arts, ...

is gray or less often brown, and in tree species smooth or fissuring when older. The

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are deciduous, cauline, alternate, simple, lanceolate to elliptic to orbiculate, 0.5–10 x 0.5–5.5 cm, thin to coriaceous, with surfaces above glabrous or densely tomentose at flowering, and glabrous or more or less hairy beneath at maturity. The inflorescences are terminal, with 1–20 flowers, erect or drooping, either in clusters of one to four flowers, or in

raceme A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...

s with 4–20 flowers. The flowers have five white (rarely somewhat pink, yellow, or streaked with red), linear to orbiculate petals, 2.6–25 mm long, with the petals in one species (''A. nantucketensis'') often andropetalous (bearing apical microsporangia adaxially). The flowers appear in early spring, "when the

shad The Alosinae, or the shads,Alosinae

run" according to North-American tradition (leading to names such as "shadbush"). The fruit is a berry-like

pome In botany, a pome is a type of fruit produced by flowering plants in the subtribe Malinae of the family Rosaceae. Well-known pomes include the apple, pear, and quince. Etymology The word ''pome'' entered English in the late 14th century, and re ...

, red to purple to nearly black at maturity, 5–15 mm diameter, insipid to delectably sweet, maturing in summer. ''Amelanchier'' plants are valued horticulturally, and their fruits are important to wildlife.

Selected species

For North American species, the taxonomy follows the ''Flora of North America'';Campbell, C. S., Dibble, A. C., Frye, C. T., & Burgess, M. B. (2015). ''Amelanchier''. In FNA Editorial Committee, ''Flora of North America'' 9. Magnoliophyta: Rosidae (in part): Rosales (in part). Oxford University Press, New York.
/ref> for Asian species the ''Flora of China'';Flora of China
''Amelanchier''
/ref> and for the one European species the ''Flora Europaea''.Flora Europaea
''Amelanchier''
/ref> *'' Amelanchier alnifolia'' – Saskatoon serviceberry, alder-leaved shadbush, saskatoon, saskatoon berry *'' Amelanchier arborea'' – downy serviceberry *'' Amelanchier asiatica'' – Korean juneberry or Asian serviceberry *''

Amelanchier australis ''Amelanchier australis'' is a plant species native to Mexico and New Mexico. Some sources consider this to be the same species as ''A. utahensis'' but The Plant List The Plant List was a list of botanical names of species of plants created ...

'' *'' Amelanchier basalticola'' *''

Amelanchier bartramiana ''Amelanchier bartramiana'' is a species of serviceberry. Common names include mountain serviceberry, mountain shadbush, Bartram's serviceberry, mountain juneberry, Bartram juneberry, and the oblongfruit serviceberry. The leaves of ''A. bartram ...

'' – mountain shadbush *''

Amelanchier canadensis ''Amelanchier canadensis'' (bilberry,Canadian Wildlife Federation/ref> Canadian serviceberry, chuckle-berry, currant-tree, juneberry, shad-blow serviceberry, shad-blow, shadbush, shadbush serviceberry, sugarplum, thicket serviceberry) is a specie ...

'' – Canada serviceberry, bilberry,Canadian Wildlife Federation
''Serviceberries''
/ref> eastern shadbush, Indian pear *'' Amelanchier humilis'' – low shadbush *''

Amelanchier interior ''Amelanchier interior'' or Wiegand's shadbush is type of serviceberry shrub. It produces a sweet tasting edible fruit called a pome, which can be eaten raw or cooked. The fruit has a sweet flavor. This species is a deciduous tree. It grows on hi ...

'' – Wiegand's shadbush *'' Amelanchier intermedia'' *''

Amelanchier laevis ''Amelanchier laevis'', the smooth shadbush, smooth serviceberry or Allegheny serviceberry, is a North American species of tree in the rose family Rosaceae, growing up to tall. It is native to eastern Canada and the eastern United States, from ...

'' – smooth shadbush, smooth serviceberry, Allegheny serviceberry *''

Amelanchier lamarckii ''Amelanchier lamarckii'', also called juneberry, serviceberry or shadbush, is a large deciduous flowering shrub or small tree in the family Rosaceae. Description In spring the plant unfurls new leaves and produces star-shaped white flowers. T ...

'' – Juneberry *''

Amelanchier nantucketensis ''Amelanchier nantucketensis'', also known as the Nantucket serviceberry or the Nantucket shadbush, produces edible fruit called pomes. Nantucket serviceberry is of conservation concern in the wild. Its distribution extends from Nantucket and Mar ...

'' – Nantucket serviceberry *'' Amelanchier obovalis'' – Southern Juneberry, Coastal serviceberry *''

Amelanchier ovalis ''Amelanchier ovalis'', commonly known as snowy mespilus (a name which is also attached to the related '' A. lamarckii'') or serviceberry, is a deciduous shrub in the family Rosaceae. Its pome fruits are edible and can be eaten raw or cooked. The ...

'' – snowy mespilusFlora Europaea
''Amelanchier ovalis''
/ref> *''

Amelanchier pallida ''Amelanchier pallida'', the pale serviceberry or western serviceberry, is a species of ''Amelanchier'' native to the US states of California and Arizona. They are shrubs or small trees reaching , with attractive blue-green foliage. They typicall ...

'' – pale serviceberry or western serviceberry *''

Amelanchier parviflora ''Amelanchier'' ( ), also known as shadbush, shadwood or shadblow, serviceberry or sarvisberry (or just sarvis), juneberry, saskatoon, sugarplum, wild-plum or chuckley pear,A Digital Flora of Newfoundland and Labrador Vascular Plants/ref> is a g ...

'' *''

Amelanchier sanguinea ''Amelanchier sanguinea'', known as red-twigged shadbush or roundleaf serviceberry, is a shrub native to eastern and central North America. Its native range stretches from New Brunswick to Saskatchewan south as far as northern Georgia (U.S. state ...

'' – red-twigged shadbush or roundleaf serviceberry *'' Amelanchier sinica'' – Chinese serviceberryFlora of China
''Amelanchier sinica''
/ref> *''

Amelanchier spicata ''Amelanchier spicata'', also referred to as the low juneberry, thicket shadbush, dwarf serviceberry, or low serviceberry (historically also called "pigeon berry"), is a species of serviceberry that has edible fruit, which are really pomes. The ...

'' – low juneberry, thicket shadbush, dwarf serviceberry, or low serviceberry *''

Amelanchier stolonifera ''Amelanchier'' ( ), also known as shadbush, shadwood or shadblow, serviceberry or sarvisberry (or just sarvis), juneberry, saskatoon, sugarplum, wild-plum or chuckley pear,A Digital Flora of Newfoundland and Labrador Vascular Plants/ref> is a g ...

'' – running serviceberry *'' Amelanchier utahensis'' – Utah serviceberry

Garden hybrids

Since classifications have varied greatly over the past century, species names are often used interchangeably in the nursery trade. Several natural or horticultural hybrids also exist, and many ''A. arborea'' and ''A. canadensis'' plants that are offered for sale are actually hybrids, or entirely different species. ''A''. × ''grandiflora'' is another hybrid of garden origin, between ''A. arborea'' and ''A. laevis''. The cultivar 'La Paloma' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society’s

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. History The Award of Garden Merit ...

. A taxon called ''

'' (or ''A.'' x ''lamarckii'') is very widely cultivated and

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

in Europe, where it was introduced in the 17th century. It is

apomictic In botany, apomixis is asexual reproduction without fertilization. Its etymology is Greek for "away from" + "mixing". This definition notably does not mention meiosis. Thus "normal asexual reproduction" of plants, such as propagation from cuttin ...

, breeding true from seed, and probably of hybrid origin, perhaps descending from a cross between ''A. laevis'' and either ''A. arborea'' or ''A. canadensis''. While ''A. lamarckii'' is known to be of North American origin, probably from eastern Canada, it is not known to occur naturally in the wild in North America.Bean, W. J. (1976). ''Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles'' 8th ed., vol. 1. John Murray .Rushforth, K. (1999). ''Trees of Britain and Europe''. Collins .

Etymology

The origin of the generic name ''Amelanchier'' is probably derived from ''amalenquièr'', ''amelanchièr'', the

Provençal Provençal may refer to: *Of Provence, a region of France * Provençal dialect, a dialect of the Occitan language, spoken in the southeast of France *''Provençal'', meaning the whole Occitan language *Franco-Provençal language, a distinct Roman ...

names of the European ''

''.Jepson Flora
''Amelanchier alnifolia''
/ref> The name ''serviceberry'' comes from the similarity of the fruit to the related European '' Sorbus''. A fanciful etymology explains the name 'serviceberry' by noting that the flowers bloom about the time roads in the Appalachian mountains became passable, allowing circuit-riding preachers to resume church services. A similar etymology says that blooming serviceberry indicated the ground had thawed enough to dig graves, so burial services could be held for those who died in the winter when the only way to deal with the bodies was to allow them to freeze and wait for spring. Both of these fanciful etymologies are unlikely to be correct since the term is attested for both English and New World species as early as the 16th century, well before settlement of English North America, and serviceberry is far from unique in blossoming early in the year. Juneberry refers to the fruits of certain species becoming ripe in June. The name saskatoon originated from a

Cree The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada ...

noun ''misâskwatômina'' (''misāskwatōmina'', ''misaaskwatoomina'') for '' Amelanchier alnifolia''. The city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, is named after this plant. Shadberry refers to the

shad The Alosinae, or the shads,Alosinae

runs in certain New England streams, which generally took place about when the trees bloomed.

Ecology

''Amelanchier'' plants are preferred browse for deer and rabbits, and heavy browsing pressure can suppress natural regeneration.

Caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...

s of such

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic r ...

as brimstone moth, brown-tail, grey dagger, mottled umber,

rough prominent The rough prominent (''Nadata gibbosa'') is a moth of the family Notodontidae, subfamily Phalerinae. It is also known as the white-dotted prominent and the tawny prominent. The species was first described by James Edward Smith in 1797. This com ...

, the satellite, winter moth, and the red-spotted purple and the white admiral (both ''

Limenitis arthemis ''Limenitis arthemis,'' the red-spotted purple or white admiral, is a North American butterfly species in the cosmopolitan genus ''Limenitis''. It has been studied for its evolution of mimicry, and for the several stable hybrid wing patterns wi ...

''), as well as various other herbivorous insects feed on ''Amelanchier.'' Many insects and diseases that attack orchard trees also affect this genus, in particular trunk borers and '' Gymnosporangium'' rust. In years when late flowers of ''Amelanchier'' overlap those of wild roses and

brambles A bramble is any rough, tangled, prickly shrub, usually in the genus '' Rubus'', which grows blackberries, raspberries, or dewberries. "Bramble" is also used to describe other prickly shrubs, such as roses (''Rosa'' species). The fruits in ...

, bees may spread bacterial fireblight.

Uses and cultivation

The fruit of several species are excellent to eat raw, sweetish, and strongly accented by the almond-like flavour of the seeds. Selections from '' Amelanchier alnifolia'' have been chosen for fruit production, with several named cultivars. Other cultivars appear to be derived from hybridization between ''A. alnifolia'' and '' A. stolonifera''. Propagation is by seed, divisions, and grafting. Serviceberries graft so readily that grafts onto other genera, such as ''

Crataegus ''Crataegus'' (), commonly called hawthorn, quickthorn, thornapple, Voss, E. G. 1985. ''Michigan Flora: A guide to the identification and occurrence of the native and naturalized seed-plants of the state. Part II: Dicots (Saururaceae–Cornacea ...

'' and '' Sorbus'', are often successful. The fruit can be harvested for pies, muffins, jams, and wine. The

saskatoon berry ''Amelanchier alnifolia'', the Saskatoon berry, Pacific serviceberry, western serviceberry, western shadbush, or western juneberry, is a shrub with an edible berry-like fruit, native to North America. Description It is a deciduous shrub or s ...

is harvested commercially. One version of the Native American food pemmican was flavored by serviceberry fruits in combination with minced dried meat and fat. The wood is brown, hard, close-grained, and heavy. The heartwood is reddish-brown, and the sapwood is lighter in color. It can be used for tool handles and fishing rods. Native Americans used it for arrow shafts. Members of the Pit River Tribe would use the wood to create a sort of body armor, crafting it into a heavy robe or overcoat and corset armor worn during fighting.Merriam, C. Hart 1966 Ethnographic Notes on California Indian Tribes. University of California Archaeological Research Facility, Berkeley (p. 222)

Garden history

Several species are very popular ornamental shrubs, grown for their flowers, bark, and fall color. All need similar conditions to grow well, requiring good drainage, air circulation (to discourage leaf diseases), watering during drought, and soil appropriate for the species.

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

planted specimens of ''Amelanchier'' on the grounds of his estate, Mount Vernon, in Virginia.

References

External links

''Juneberry''
in What Am I Eating? A Food Dictionary {{Authority control Rosaceae genera Plants used in Native American cuisine Fruit trees