The Last Snow of Spring
The little, white flowering trees blooming in our forests in April are serviceberry, or Amelanchier (Am-meh-LANG-kee-er). Going south on highway 131 the proliferation of blooming trees during the spring look like snow falling in the forest.
The serviceberry is also known as shadblow. These are the first trees to bloom in spring, usually along with forsythia. Unlike the forsythia, they are native. The name serviceberry has two possible derivation legends. One is a corruption of 'sarvisberry,' a name the Romans gave to the sorbus, or European mountain ash. Early American settlers noticed the Amelanchier's fruit resembled the berries of the sarvisberry. The other comes from folklore. Early settlers saw the blossoming of serviceberry as the proper time to intern bodies held during the winter for burial, or because travel was too difficult during winter to attend funeral services, so a memorial service was held when the serviceberry bloomed. The name shadblow comes from the bloom time concurring with the annual migration of shad in eastern rivers.
In June, the serviceberries produce red berries that ripen to deep blue, which gives the Amelanchier another common name, juneberry. Settlers prized the fruit for making jam, but because the fruits are easily bruised and have a poor keeping quality, they have never made it into food production. To collect berries from the wild you have to beat the Robins to them, not an easy task, so few have tasted juneberry jam. If you come across ripe wild serviceberry fruits, try them, for they are delicious, with a hint of pear flavor.
Serviceberries are members of the rose family. If you examine the flower you will see a disheveled resemblance to wild roses. Their five petal white flowers are held in disordered groups and even the petals might not all match in length. Several species grow in Michigan, but Amelanchier hybridize easily, so species identification can be complicated.
Because they are an understory tree, or a tree that lives beneath the shade of taller trees, you can expect serviceberries to be small, usually less than twenty feet in height. There are also serviceberries that are small shrubs.
Most serviceberries are hard to find in nursery stock, perhaps because some have bad habits, like tending to sucker and spread rampantly, particularly in the shrub group like the roundleaf serviceberry, Amelanchier sanguinea. Because of their rose relationship, they are susceptible to fire blight disease, but this is usually due to over fertilizing.
Amelanchier have some wonderful qualities. They are very tolerant and adaptable to growing in many conditions. Their natural habitat is partial shade, but you might find them growing in full sun. They can tolerate dry soil and drought once established. They are not prone to branches breaking from strong winds or storms.
The Amelanchier grandiflora, sometimes called the apple serviceberry, has been hybridized and grows as a specimen tree. This hybrid is better behaved than its wild cousins, less prone to suckering and produces larger flowers.
Amelanchier are hardy, small trees. With their early spring bloom, summer fruit and great red to purple fall color, they provide multiple seasons of interest and make a perfect tree for small gardens or yards.