272 



AMELANCHIER 



AMELANCHIER 



AMELANCHIER (said to be a Savoy name). Rosa- 

 cex. SHAD-BOSH. JUNEBERRY. Ornamental woody 

 subjects chiefly cultivated for their profuse white 

 flowers appearing in early spring; some species also 

 grown for their fruits. 



Deciduous shrubs or small trees: winter-buds con- 

 spicuous, pointed, with several imbricate scales: Ivs. 

 alternate, petioled, serrate: fls. in racemes terminal on 

 short branchlets, rarely solitary; calyx-tube campanu- 

 late, adnate to the ovary, with 5 persistent lobes; petals 

 5; stamens 10-20; styles 2-5; ovary inferior, 2-5-celled, 

 each cell with 2 ovules and subdivided : f r. a berry-like 

 pome, juicy, with a cavity at the top. About 20 or 

 25 species, most of them in N. Amer., 2 in Mex., 4 in 

 Eu., and W. Asia, and 1 in E. Asia. The species 

 are closely related and often difficult to distinguish, 



187. Amelanchier alnifolia. 



especially as numerous spontaneous hybrids apparently 

 occur. For a detailed treatment of the species of E. 

 N. Amer., see Wiegand in Rhodora 14, p. 117 (1912). 

 In trade catalogues, they are sometimes confused with 

 Aronia, which is easily distinguished by its compound 

 corymbose infl., 5-celled mealy fr. and by the midrib of 

 the Ivs. being glandular above. 



The amelanchiers are deciduous shrubs or trees with 

 simple, suborbicular to oblong serrate leaves, rather 

 small white flowers in racemes followed by purplish or 

 bluish black berry-like fruits. They are very desirable 

 for ornament, producing a profusion of white flowers in 

 early spring, and range from shrubs only a few feet high, 

 as A. humilis and A. stolonifera, to trees attaining 40 

 feet in height, as A. canadensis and A. Isevis. The latter 

 species is perhaps the most beautiful, the white color of 

 the pendulous loose racemes being enhanced by the red 

 bracts and the bronzy red color of the unfolding leaves; 

 the other species are pure white when blooming, the 

 young leaves being covered by a whitish tomentum. 



A. humilis and A. stolonifera and also A. sanguined 

 seem to be the best for fruit, which ripens later than 

 the others; there is also a large-fruited form of A. 

 Isevis. See Juneberry. 



All the species mentioned below are hardy North 

 and thrive upon a variety of soils and succeed well in 

 dry climates; some, as A. sanguinea, A. humilis and A. 

 rotundifolia show a preference for calcareous soil and 

 grow well in dry situations, while others, as A. oblongi- 

 folia and A. Bartramiana prefer moist and swampy 

 soil. 



Propagation is by seeds sown soon after ripening or 

 stratified and sown in spring and the stoloniferous 

 species also by suckers; rare kinds are sometimes bud- 

 ded in summer on a common species or on Crataegus. 



INDEX. 



oxyodon, 4. 

 pumila, 4. 

 rotundifolia, 1, 2. 

 eanguinea, 2. 

 ainica, 8. 



spicata, 2, 3, 5, 6. 

 etolonifera, 5. 

 tulgaris, 1. 



A. Fls. in racemes: Ivs. folded in bud; petioles slender. 



B. Styles free, very short, not exceeding the calyx-lube. 



1. rotundifolia, Dum.-Cours., not Roem. (A. 

 Ameldnchier, Sarg. A. vulgaris, Moench. A. ovalis, 

 Medikus, not Borkh.). SERVICE-BERRY. Upright or 

 spreading, rather stiff -branched shrub, 2-8 ft.: young 

 branchlets tomentose : 1 vs. oval to obo vate, serrate from 

 near the base, subcordate at the base, usually rounded 

 at the apex, 1-2 in. long, woolly beneath when young: 

 racemes many-fld.; petals linear-oblanceolate, obtuse 

 or emarginate: fr. bluish black, bloomy. May; fr. in 

 Aug., Sept. Cent, and S. Eu. B.M. 2430. H.W. 3, 

 p. 87. G.C. II. 9:793. M.D.G. 1900:497 (habit). J.H. 

 111.54:395. 



BB. Styles more or less connate at the base, about as long as 



the stamens. 

 c. Teeth of Ivs. about 4-7 to %in.; Ivs. rather coarsely 



serrate; veins usually straight and close together. 

 D. Apex of Ivs. acute or acutish; blade densely woolly 



beneath when young. 



2. sanguinea, DC. (A. rotundifolia, Roem., 

 not Dum.-Cours. A. canadensis var. spicdla, 

 Sarg., in part. A. spicata, Rob. & Fernald, 

 not Koch). Slender shrub: sts. solitary or few 

 together, to 8 ft. high: Ivs. orbicular-oval 

 to oval-oblong, rounded or subcordate at 

 the base, lJi-2^ in. long, serrate nearly to 

 the base: fls. on a loose, usually nodding 

 raceme; petals J^in. long; summit of ovary 

 densely woolly : fr. rather large, nearly black, bloomy, 

 juicy and sweet. Maine to Minn, and Ala. May; fr. 

 in Aug., Sept. B.B. 2:238 (as A. rotundifolia). Via. 

 grandiflflra (forma grandiflora, Wiegand). Fls. large; 

 petals Min. long and nearly Jin. wide. 



3. humilis, Wiegand (A. spicdla of many writers, not 

 Koch). Stiffly upright shrub, 1-4 ft., stoloniferous and 

 forming patches: Ivs. oval-oblong or oval, subcordate 

 or rarely rounded at the base, 1-2 in. long, serrate to 

 below the middle: racemes many-fld., rather dense and 

 upright; fls. small; petals oblong-obovate, about )^in. 

 long: fr. nearly black, bloomy, juicy and sweet. May; 

 fr. in Aug. Vt. to Alberta, south to N. Y. and Iowa. 



DD. Apex of Ivs. rounded or truncate: blade very soon 

 glabrous. 



4. alnifolia, Nutt. (A. canadensis var. alnifdlia, 

 Torr. & Gray). Fig. 187. Shrub with rather stout 

 upright branches, to 10 ft.: Ivs. broadly oval to oval- 

 truncate or subcordate at the base, 1-1 % in. long, 



