Genus Amelanchier Rank Species | ||
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Similar Shadbush, Amelanchier canadensis, Amelanchier laevis, Amelanchier spicata, Saskatoon | ||
Amelanchier lamarckii
Amelanchier lamarckii, also called juneberry, serviceberry or shadbush, is a large deciduous flowering shrub or small tree in the family Rosaceae. It is widely naturalised in Europe, where it is known as snowy mespilus or snowy mespil. The European plants are descendants of plants originally from eastern North America; there has been some escape also in North America of plants apparently secondarily derived from those European forms.
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It has white flowers that are star-shaped. Its young berry-like pome fruits are dark red when young, but become dark purple when ripe. The fruits are edible and have an apple and sweet flavor. It is widely cultivated as an ornamental plant. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
This form is an apomictic microspecies, and presumed to be of hybrid origin (A. laevis and either A. arborea or A. canadensis) and therefore under the rules of botanical nomenclature it would be known as Amelanchier × lamarckii. Its common name "snowy mespilus" reflects its close relationship with the medlar genus, Mespilus.
Amelanchier lamarckii
