Amelanchier arborea

{{Short description|Species of tree}}

{{Speciesbox

| image = Amelanchier arborea leaves.JPG

| status = LC

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref = {{cite iucn |author=IUCN SSC Global Tree Specialist Group. |author2=Botanic Gardens Conservation International |collaboration=BGCI |date=2020 |title=Amelanchier arborea |volume=2020 |page=e.T144220543A152906152 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-1.RLTS.T144220543A152906152.en |access-date=20 November 2021}}

| status2 = G5

| status2_system = TNC

| status2_ref = {{Cite web|title=NatureServe Explorer|url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.135581/Amelanchier_arborea|access-date=2021-05-03}}

| genus = Amelanchier

| species = arborea

| authority = (F.Michx.) Fernald

| synonyms = *Mespilus arborea F. Michx.

| synonyms_ref = {{GRIN | access-date=November 24, 2004}}

| range_map = Amelanchier arborea range map 1.png

| range_map_caption = Natural range of Amelanchier arborea

}}

Amelanchier arborea (downy serviceberry or common serviceberry{{PLANTS |symbol=AMAR3 |taxon=Amelanchier arborea |access-date=November 24, 2004}}), is native to eastern North America from the Gulf Coast north to Thunder Bay in Ontario and Lake St. John in Quebec, and west to Texas and Minnesota.

Other common names are "shadberries" (as their blossoming coincides with the shad runs in New England), "Juneberries" (because the berries usually set on in June), and "Service" or "Sarvice" berries because their blooms mean that the muddy back roads into the "coves and hollers" of Appalachia will soon be passable for circuit-riding preachers and the communities will be able to have Sunday services again. (Some say, more morbidly, that it means the ground is soft enough to dig, which means that those who died over winter can be buried and have services said over them.){{citation needed|date=March 2020}}

Amelanchier arborea is generally {{cvt|5|–|12|m|0}} tall. Occasionally, it can grow up to {{convert|20|m}} tall and reach into the overstory. The trunk can be up to {{cvt|15|cm|0}} in diameter (rarely to {{cvt|40|cm|0|disp=or}}). The bark is smooth and gray.{{Missouri Plants |color=White |leaf=alt |genus=Amelanchier |species=arborea}}{{cite book|series=Trees of Wisconsin|url=http://www.uwgb.edu/biodiversity/herbarium/trees/amearb01.htm|title=Amelanchier arborea|access-date=2006-04-01|archive-date=2013-01-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130124231025/https://www.uwgb.edu/biodiversity/herbarium/trees/amearb01.htm|url-status=dead}}

The buds are slender with a pointed tip, and usually more than two scales visible. The leaves are ovate or elliptical, {{cvt|4|–|8|cm|frac=4}}, rarely {{cvt|10|cm|0}}, long and {{cvt|2.5|–|4|cm|frac=8}} wide, with pointed tips and finely serrated margins. A characteristic useful for identification is that the young leaves emerge downy on the underside. The fall color is variable, from orange-yellow to pinkish or reddish.

File:Amelanchier arborea sarvis close.jpg

It has perfect flowers that are {{cvt|15|–|25|mm|in|frac=8}} in diameter, with 5 petals, emerging during budbreak in early spring. The petals are white. Flowers are produced on pendulous racemes {{cvt|3|–|5|cm|frac=4}} long with 4–10 flowers on each raceme. The flowers are pollinated by bees. The fruit is a reddish-purple pome, resembling a small apple in shape. They ripen in summer and are very popular with birds.Bioimages: [http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/species/frame/amar3.htm Amelanchier arborea images] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204042305/http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/species/frame/amar3.htm |date=2012-02-04 }} The fruit is eaten by over 40 species of birds and various mammals, including squirrels, rabbits, chipmunks, mice, voles, foxes, black bears, deer, and elk.

It also commonly hybridizes with other species of Amelanchier, the hybrid Amelanchier × grandiflora being one example,{{cite web|publisher=Missouri Botanical Garden|url=http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=242791 |title=Amelanchier × grandiflora |website=Plant Finder |access-date=February 13, 2015}} and identification can be very difficult as a result.

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