Amelanchier canadensis

For the candy, see sugar plum.
Amelanchier canadensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae
Genus: Amelanchier
Species: A. canadensis
Binomial name
Amelanchier canadensis
(L.) Medik.
Synonyms
  • A. canadensis var. subintegra Fernald
  • A. confusa Hyl.
  • A. lucida Fernald
  • A. oblongifolia
  • Mespilus canadensis L. (basionym)

Amelanchier canadensis (Canadian serviceberry, chuckleberry, currant-tree,[1] Juneberry, Shadblow Serviceberry, Shadblow, Shadbush, Shadbush Serviceberry, Sugarplum, Thicket Serviceberry) 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.[2][3][4]

Growth

It is a deciduous shrub or small tree growing to 0.5–8 m tall with one to many stems and a narrow, fastigiate crown. The leaves are alternate, simple, ovate to ovate-oblong, 1–5.5 cm long and 1.8–2.8 cm broad with a rounded to sub-acute apex; they are downy below, and have a serrated margin and an 8–15 mm petiole. The flowers are produced in early spring in loose racemes 4–6 cm long at the ends of the branches; each raceme has four to ten flowers. The flower has five white petals 7.6–11 mm long and 2–4 mm broad, and 20 stamens. The fruit is a pome, 7–10 mm diameter, dark purple when ripe; it is edible and sweet. Fruits become ripe in June and July[3][4] in its native range.

Uses

It is used as a medicinal plant,[5] food, and ornamental plant.[6] It is sometimes made into bonsai.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Amelanchier canadensis.
Wikiversity has bloom time data for Amelanchier canadensis on the Bloom Clock

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, January 26, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.