Amelanchier laevis

Object Details

Description
This understory tree can be distinguished from another common serviceberry (A. arborea) by its hairless leaves and sweeter and juicier fruit. It is a beautiful tree throughout the year with its white flowers and bronze tinted leaves in the spring, edible fruit in the summer, a vivid red-orange leaves in the fall. It can benefit from some pruning to shape it, or it tends to grow in a more shrub-like fashion.
Hardiness
-30 - 20 F
Attracts
Bees, birds, butterflies (host plant for Red-Spotted Purple and Viceroy butterflies)
Bloom Time
April
Ethnobotanical Uses
Berries used in jams, jellies, and pies. Fruit has also been used by some Native Americans to make a high energy snack for trips called pemmican, which is made from the dried fruits, meat, and fat.
Provenance
From a cultivated plant not of known wild origin
Range
E Canada to N Central and E USA
Habitat
Thickets, open woods, forest margins
Topic
Trees
Living Collections
See more items in
Smithsonian Gardens Tree Collection
On Display
National Air & Space Museum
Data Source
Smithsonian Gardens
Accession Number
2022-0427A
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Common Name
Allegheny serviceberry
Juneberry
Smooth shadbush
Group
[vascular plants]
Class
Equisetopsida
Subclass
Magnoliidae
Superorder
Rosanae
Order
Rosales
Family
Rosaceae
Genus
Amelanchier
Species
laevis
Life Form
Deciduous tree
Average Height
15-40' (4.6-12.2 meters)
Bark Characteristics
Gray and smooth with some white striping.
Bloom Characteristics
Five-petaled, white flowers grow in drooping clusters. Bloom before leaves emerge.
Fall Color
Red-orange
Foliage Characteristics
Simple, alternate, ovate leaves have serrated margins. Leaves are 2-4" (5-10.2 cm) long and emerge with a bronze tint in spring. Mature leaves are dark green.
Fragrance
Sweet (faint, flowers)
Fruit Characteristics
Berry-like fruit ripens to purple-black and resemble blueberries. June.
Structure
Upright, vase
GUID
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ax76bc2ae66-a30c-46d6-b7cb-e9a041a85fba
Record ID
ofeo-sg_2022-0427A
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