Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Serviceberry

This lovely Native American Tree, produces a tasty and edible fruit that you can use to make jellies, or berry pies just to eat.  It has lots of other names: Juneberry, because that is when it is in berry.  Serviceberry, because when it blooms in the spring the ground has thawed enough the preacher can get over the mountain to hold services (or because the ground has thawed enough to dig the graves and hold funeral services).  It is also called Shad Buck, because it bears fruit when the Shad are running.   In Canada it is called Saskatoon, and I have heard it called Wild Plum, too.  Amelanchier  is a tree that grows in the Northern Hemisphere, especially in the Northeast and up into Canada.  It is a beautiful white flowered plant with tasty little fruit.  The fruits aren't available for very long, which is part of the reason you don't find them in the marketplace.

Little tip:  All berries with a crown are edible - blueberries, serviceberries. 
Photos from Heartwood Nursery.

2 comments:

Angela McRae said...

Thank you for explaining where the name comes from! I only recently heard of the serviceberry and thought, what kind of service? So now I know!

Marilyn Miller said...

So many different names. I have heard of serviceberries, but not seen them that I know of. Now blueberries I love and will go picking this week. We love having them in the freezer all winter long.