Amelanchier arborea

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Amelanchier arborea
Amelanchier arborea leaves.JPG
Status TNC G5.svg
Secure  (NatureServe) [2]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae
Genus: Amelanchier
Species:
A. arborea
Binomial name
Amelanchier arborea
Amelanchier arborea range map 1.png
Natural range of Amelanchier arborea
Synonyms [3]

Amelanchier arborea (downy serviceberry [3] or common serviceberry [4] ), is native to eastern North America from the Gulf Coast north to Thunder Bay in Ontario and Lake St. John in Quebec, and west to Texas and Minnesota. [3]

Contents

Other common names are "shadberries" (as their blossoming coincides with the shad runs in New England), "Juneberries" (because the berries usually set on in June), and "Service" or "Sarvice" berries because their blooms mean that the muddy back roads into the "coves and hollers" of Appalachia will soon be passable for circuit-riding preachers and the communities will be able to have Sunday services again. (Some say, more morbidly, that it means the ground is soft enough to dig, which means that those who died over winter can be buried and have services said over them.)[ citation needed ]

Amelanchier arborea is generally 5–12 m (16–39 ft) tall. Occasionally, it can grow up to 20 metres (66 ft) tall and reach into the overstory. The trunk can be up to 15 cm (6 in) in diameter (rarely to 40 cm or 16 in). The bark is smooth and gray. [5] [6]

The buds are slender with a pointed tip, and usually more than two scales visible. The leaves are ovate or elliptical, 4–8 cm (1+123+14 in), rarely 10 cm (4 in), long and 2.5–4 cm (1–1+58 in) wide, with pointed tips and finely serrated margins. A characteristic useful for identification is that the young leaves emerge downy on the underside. The fall color is variable, from orange-yellow to pinkish or reddish. [5] [6]

Flower details Amelanchier arborea sarvis close.jpg
Flower details

It has perfect flowers that are 15–25 mm (58–1 in) in diameter, with 5 petals, emerging during budbreak in early spring. The petals are white. Flowers are produced on pendulous racemes 3–5 cm (1+14–2 in) long with 4–10 flowers on each raceme. The flowers are pollinated by bees. The fruit is a reddish-purple pome, resembling a small apple in shape. They ripen in summer and are very popular with birds. [5] [6] [7] The fruit is eaten by over 40 species of birds and various mammals, including squirrels, rabbits, chipmunks, mice, voles, foxes, black bears, deer, and elk. [4]

It also commonly hybridizes with other species of Amelanchier, [6] the hybrid Amelanchier × grandiflora being one example, [8] and identification can be very difficult as a result.

Cultivation

This species tolerates varying light levels, but is at its best in full sun. It requires good drainage and air circulation and should be watered during drought. It is often confused with other species in the nursery trade. Propagation is by seed, divisions and grafting.

The edible fruit [9] is drier than some other serviceberries, and it is harvested locally for pies and jams, and has been known to be used for wine; they were also used by Native Americans to make bread.[ citation needed ]

Some report that the sweetened juice tastes like Dr. Pepper and some nurseries sell them as "The Dr. Pepper Tree", but the fruit is not used in the soft drink.

Related Research Articles

<i>Amelanchier</i> Genus of fruit trees

Amelanchier, also known as shadbush, shadwood or shadblow, serviceberry or sarvisberry, juneberry, saskatoon, sugarplum, wild-plum or chuckley pear, is a genus of about 20 species of deciduous-leaved shrubs and small trees in the rose family (Rosaceae).

<i>Ptelea trifoliata</i> Species of tree

Ptelea trifoliata, commonly known as common hoptree, wafer ash, stinking ash, and skunk bush, is a species of flowering plant in the citrus family (Rutaceae). It is native to North America, where it is found in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. It is a deciduous shrub or tree, with alternate, trifoliate leaves.

<i>Amelanchier alnifolia</i> Species of tree

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.

<i>Ribes triste</i> Berry and plant

Ribes triste, known as the northern redcurrant, swamp redcurrant, or wild redcurrant, is an Asian and North American shrub in the gooseberry family. It is widespread across Canada and the northern United States, as well as in eastern Asia.

<i>Acer macrophyllum</i> Species of maple

Acer macrophyllum, the bigleaf maple or Oregon maple, is a large deciduous tree in the genus Acer.

<i>Ulmus rubra</i> Species of tree

Ulmus rubra, the slippery elm, is a species of elm native to eastern North America. Other common names include red elm, gray elm, soft elm, moose elm, and Indian elm.

<i>Acer ginnala</i> Species of plant

Acer ginnala, the Amur maple, is a plant species with woody stems native to northeastern Asia from easternmost Mongolia east to Korea and Japan, and north to the Russian Far East in the Amur River valley. It is a small maple with deciduous leaves that is sometimes grown as a garden subject or boulevard tree.

<i>Cornus alternifolia</i> Species of tree

Cornus alternifolia is a species of flowering plant in the dogwood family Cornaceae, native to eastern North America, from Newfoundland west to southern Manitoba and Minnesota, and south to northern Florida and Mississippi. It is rare in the southern United States. It is commonly known as green osier, alternate-leaved dogwood, and pagoda dogwood.

<i>Cornus suecica</i> Species of flowering plant in the dogwood family Cornaceae

Cornus suecica, the dwarf cornel or bunchberry, is a species of flowering plant in the dogwood family Cornaceae, native to cool temperate and subarctic regions of Europe and Asia, and also locally in extreme northeastern and northwestern North America.

<i>Cladrastis kentukea</i> Species of legume

Cladrastis kentukea, the Kentucky yellowwood or American yellowwood, is a species of Cladrastis native to the Southeastern United States, with a restricted range from western North Carolina west to eastern Oklahoma, and from southern Missouri and Indiana south to central Alabama. The tree is sometimes also called Virgilia.

<i>Amelanchier canadensis</i> Species of tree

Amelanchier canadensis is a species of Amelanchier native to eastern North America in Canada from Newfoundland west to southern Ontario, and in the United States from Maine south to Alabama. It is largely restricted to wet sites, particularly on the Atlantic coastal plain, growing at altitudes from sea level up to 200 m.

<i>Sorbus americana</i> Species of tree

The tree species Sorbus americana is commonly known as the American mountain-ash. It is a deciduous perennial tree, native to eastern North America.

<i>Amelanchier utahensis</i> Species of flowering plant

Amelanchier utahensis, the Utah serviceberry, is a shrub or small tree native to western North America. This serviceberry grows in varied habitats, from scrubby open slopes to woodlands and forests.

<i>Amelanchier bartramiana</i> Species of flowering plant

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.

<i>Amelanchier laevis</i> Species of tree

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 9 metres (30 ft) tall. It is native to eastern Canada and the eastern United States, from Newfoundland west to Ontario, Minnesota, and Iowa, south as far as Georgia and Alabama.

<i>Amelanchier <span style="font-style:normal;">×</span> lamarckii</i> Species of flowering plant

Amelanchier × lamarckii, also called juneberry, serviceberry or shadbush, is a large deciduous flowering shrub or small tree in the family Rosaceae.

<i>Ribes aureum</i> Species of plant

Ribes aureum, known by the common names golden currant, clove currant, pruterberry and buffalo currant, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Ribes native to North America.

<i>Malus baccata</i> Asian species of apple

Malus baccata is an Asian species of apple known by the common names Siberian crab apple, Siberian crab, Manchurian crab apple and Chinese crab apple. It is native to many parts of Asia, but is also grown elsewhere as an ornamental tree and for rootstock. It is used for bonsai. It bears plentiful, fragrant, white flowers and edible red to yellow fruit of about 1 cm diameter.

<i>Prunus rivularis</i> Species of tree

Prunus rivularis, known variously by the common names creek plum, hog plum, or wild-goose plum is a thicket-forming shrub. It prefers calcareous clay soil or limestone-based woodland soils. This deciduous plant belongs to the rose family, Rosaceae, and is found mainly in the central United States. It is a shrub consisting of slender stems with umbel clusters of white blossoms. The fruit is a drupe that resembles a large berry; though it has a bitter taste, it serves as a source of food for birds and other wildlife. "Prunus" is Latin for plum, whereas "rivularis" means being near a stream.

<i>Amelanchier <span style="font-style:normal;">×</span> grandiflora</i> Species of flowering plant

Amelanchier × grandiflora, the serviceberry, is a small deciduous flowering tree or large shrub, a hybrid of garden origin between A. arborea and A. laevis, in the family Rosaceae. It produces white flowers and small red to purple edible fruits.

References

  1. IUCN SSC Global Tree Specialist Group.; Botanic Gardens Conservation International; et al. (BGCI) (2020). "Amelanchier arborea". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2020: e.T144220543A152906152. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-1.RLTS.T144220543A152906152.en . Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  2. "NatureServe Explorer" . Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  3. 1 2 3 "Amelanchier arborea". Germplasm Resources Information Network . Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture . Retrieved November 24, 2004.
  4. 1 2 USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Amelanchier arborea". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved November 24, 2004.
  5. 1 2 3 Tenaglia, Dan. "Amelanchier arborea page". Missouri Plants. Missouri Botanical Garden.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Amelanchier arborea. Trees of Wisconsin. Archived from the original on 2013-01-24. Retrieved 2006-04-01.
  7. Bioimages: Amelanchier arborea images Archived 2012-02-04 at the Wayback Machine
  8. "Amelanchier × grandiflora". Plant Finder. Missouri Botanical Garden . Retrieved February 13, 2015.
  9. Little, Elbert L. (1980). The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees: Eastern Region. New York: Knopf. p. 460. ISBN   0-394-50760-6.