 |
Plants
of Southern New Jersey
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Plant
Profile
Amelanchier
canadensis (L.) Medik..
Canada
serviceberry, shadbush
|
|
|
|
|
| Photo
by Renee Brecht |
Britton and Brown. See
credits below.** |
 | Philipp Franz von Siebold and Joseph Gerhard Zuccarini Plate, Flora Japonica, Sectio Prima (Tafelband), 1870 |
|
| Botanical name: |
Amelanchier
canadensis (L.) Medik. |
| Common
name: |
Canadian serviceberry, shadbush |
| Synonomy: |
| Amelanchier canadensis (L.)
Medik. var. subintegra Fernald |
| Amelanchier lucida Fernald |
|
| Group: |
dicot |
| Family: |
Rosaceae |
| Growth
Type: |
Tree (usually multi-trunked)
Shrub |
| Duration: |
Perennial |
| Origin: |
Native |
| Plant
height: |
to 25' |
| Foliage: |
deciduous, alternate, simple, downy
below with a serrated margin |
| Flower
color: |
white, slightly fragrant, in loose
racemes of 4 to 10 flowers; 5 petals |
| Flower
size: |
1/2" |
| Flowering/fruiting time |
April-May; fruits mid June to mid July |
| Habitat: |
wet woods; shaded edges, swamps,
watersides, coastal marshes |
| Range
in
New Jersey: |
all counties except Warren |
| Heritage ranking if any: |
n/a |
| Distribution: |
 |
| Misc.: |
Fruit is edible. Its wood is good for
tool handles and fishing rods.
Stone, 1910, applied Amelanchier
intermedia to what is now A. canadensis. He
applied A. canadensis to what is now A. borealis.
He says of A. intermedia=A. canadensis: "The
shad-bushes give the first touch of bloom to the swamps of the coastal
plain. Their spikes of white flowers and whitish leaf buds stand out in
strong contrast to the somber brown tints that prevail until the
general bursting of bud clothes everything with the misty gray-green of
early spring, and by that time these pioneer flowers are ready to
scatter their white petals like a belated flurry of snow. The bushes
then become inconspicuous among the other green shrubbery" (488). |
|
|
Not sure what a word means? Use Answers.com:
|
|
Sources
**USDA-NRCS
PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An
illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British
Possessions. Vol. 2: 292. |
|
|