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Amelanchier alnifolia
Also called Serviceberry, Saskatoon, Cusick's serviceberry, Pacific Serviceberry, Juneberry, Northwestern Serviceberry, Saskatoon Berry
Saskatoon serviceberry is a deciduous shrub or small tree native to western North America, grown for its edible purple berries. The key to growing it is full sun for good fruiting and well-drained soil, as it dislikes heavy wet clay.
Amelanchier alnifolia, the saskatoon berry, Pacific serviceberry, western serviceberry, western shadbush, or western juneberry, is a shrub native to North America. It is a member of the rose family, and bears an edible berry-like fruit.
Seedlings are planted with 4.0–6.1 m (13–20 ft) between rows and 0.46–0.91 m (1.5–3 ft) between plants. An individual bush may bear fruit 30 or more years.
Saskatoons are adaptable to most soil types with exception of poorly drained or heavy clay soils lacking organic matter. Shallow soils should be avoided, especially if the water table is high or erratic. Winter hardiness is exceptional, but frost can damage blooms as late as May. Large amounts of sunshine are needed for fruit ripening.
The plant is present from Alaska across most of western Canada and in the western and north-central United States. It grows from sea level in the north of the range, up to 2,600 m (8,530 ft) elevation in California and 3,400 m (11,200 ft) in the Rocky Mountains. It is a common shrub in the forest understory, as well as canyons.
Canadian serviceberry · Serviceberry · Low serviceberry · Allegheny serviceberry · Roundleaf serviceberry · Serviceberry
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Amelanchier alnifolia by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
