Common Name: Serviceberry
Scientific Name: Amelanchier arborea
Location: Kirk Memorial
Identifying Features
Service berry flowers early in the spring. It produces white flowers with elongate petals. Purple fruits appear by early-to mid summer. The long, sharp-pointed buds along the twigs make this tree easy to identify in the winter.
Distribution/Geography
From the southern tip of Newfoundland to the northern tip of the Florida Panhandle, and west to southern Ontario and Quebec, eastern Kansas, the eastern edge of Nebraska, and southern Mississippi and Alabama, common serviceberry can be found. It is located along the coast north of Virginia, but inland from Virginia south.
Uses
– The fruits are excellent to eat raw, tasting somewhat like a blueberry, strongly accented by the almond-like flavor of the seeds.
– Fruit is harvested locally for pies and jams. 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. It can be used for tool handles and fishing rods. Native Americans used it for arrow shafts.
History
According to one legend, the first settlers of the New England area will also schedule funeral services around the time the tree bloomed. Its blooming signaled that the earth had thawed enough to allow graves to be dug. As a result, the tree was dubbed the “serviceberry tree.”
Fun Fact
The downy hairs on its winter buds give it the common name “downy.” Shadbush (because the flowers bloom while shad fish are spawning) and Juneberry (because the fruits ripen in June) are two popular names for serviceberries.