THE SERVICE-BERRIES 150 



leaves, one to four inches long, commend this black-fruited 

 thorn of the West to the Eastern horticulturists. It has 

 proved hardy in gardens to the Atlantic seaboard and in 

 Nova Scotia. 



THE SERVICE-BERRIES 



A small genus of pretty, slender trees related to apples, 

 and in the rose family, has representatives in every conti- 

 nent of the Northern Hemisphere, and also in North Africa. 

 Their natural range is greatly extended by the efforts of 

 horticulturists, for the trees are among the best flowering 

 species. 



The Service-berry 



Amelanchier Canadensis, T. & G. 



The Eastern service-berry, June-berry, or shad-bush, is 

 often seen in parks and on lawns; its delicate, purple- 

 brown branches covered in April, before the oval leaves ap- 

 pear, with loose, drooping clusters of white flowers. {See 

 illustration, page 182.) Under each is a pair of red silky bracts 

 and the infant leaves are red and silky, all adding their 

 warmth of color when the tree is white with bloom. The 

 blossoms pass quickly, just about the time the shad run up 

 the rivers to spawn. We may easily trace this common 

 name to the early American colonists who frugally fished 

 the streams when the shad were running, and noted the 

 charming little trees lighting up the river banks with their 

 delicate blossoms, when all the woods around them were 

 still asleep. In June the juicy red berries call the birds to 

 a feast. Then the little tree quite loses its identity, for the 



