Eden Keeper
 
Services
 
Products
 
De-Beautification Awards
 
Featured Topics
    Plants
         Native
         Edible
         Wildflowers
         Biblical
         Weeds
         Bartram
         Plant Famlies
    Places
    Practices
     Quips
 
Sitemap
 
Photos
 
Links
 
About
 
Contact

     Serviceberry, Amelanchier Medik., is actually pronounced sarvis-berry, and it is also known as shadbush and juneberry.  Shadbush refers to the timing of flowering coinciding with the shad spawning run, which it just days after Bradford pear, Pyrus L., making serviceberry an idea native substitute for that terrible invasive exotic.  Unlike Bradford pear trees, which all look identical (unless mixed with another cultivar such as Cleveland pear), serviceberry comes in several species and varieties that range from shrubs to trees.  The common name juneberry indicates the time of ripening throughout much of the range, making this one of the earliest eatable fruits besides mayhaw, Crataegus L., and strawberry, Fragaria L..  The fruits are as good as if not better than blueberries, Vaccinium L., but it is rare to get a ripe one due to either birds getting them first or cedar-apple rust ruining them.  I finally found just enough ripe ones to taste for the first time during cub scout day camp at Camp Jackson in June 2008, and from those and other seed I have since grown seedlings and planted them in an orchard.  The fall color of serviceberry can include yellow, orange, red, and/or purple, which is another advantage over Bradford pear besides the not making as big of a mess from the fruit and especially the frequent wind damage.

     The most common species of serviceberry  in Alabama is downy serviceberry, A. arborea (Michx. f.) Fernald , and the variety A. arborea (Michx. f.) Fernald var. alabamensis (Britton) G.N. Jones, is known as Alabama serviceberry.  A downy serviceberry tree on the silver trail at DeSoto State park that I nominated was declared the Alabama state champion in 2009, it is 40 feet tall, has a circumference of 24 inches, and an average limb spread of 18 feet; there are probably larger specimens, but none of them have been nominated.  Other species at least reported to occur in Alabama include:  Canadian serviceberry, A. canadensis (L.) Medik., running serviceberry, A. stolonifera Wiegand, and Allegheny serviceberry, A. laevis Wiegand, which is often found in the nursery trade marketed as apple serviceberry, A.×grandiflora Rehder, which is considered synonymous although some believe it to be a hybrid with downy serviceberry due to some intermediate characteristics and apparent hybrid vigor exhibited as generally faster growth, potential larger size, and greater adaptability than is typical for either species.  Another species found in the nursery trade is Saskatoon serviceberry, Amelanchier alnifolia (Nutt.) Nutt. ex M. Roem., which is marketed as a cold hardy alternative to a blueberry where it is often called Saskatoon blueberry.