A few years ago, Marion did some landscaping at the back of our property and one of the new additions was a serviceberry bush. Until we had one, I don't recall ever hearing the name but we were assured that it was a good native plant and, important to us, that it attracted birds.
This 7-8 ft shrub (sorry I don't do metric easily) has become one of my favourite plants. With pretty blossoms in the spring, tasty berries in the summer, and a nice turn of colour in the leaves in the fall, it provides me with interesting photo opportunities. Here's the way one of its leaves looked yesterday (Sunday, September 21). The bush is mostly still green but this leaf reminds us that the season is turning from late summer to early autumn.
Serviceberry leaf, September 2003
(click on image for a larger view)Turning to the Internet for readily available information, I decided it was time to do some self education on the history and background of the serviceberry bush.
Genus: Amelanchier Around 16 species native to North America.
Common names: "serviceberry, saskatoon, sarviceberry, sarvis, maycherry, Juneberry, Junebush, shadblow, shadbush, shadberry, shadblossom, shadwood, sugar pear, Indian pear, grape-pear, lancewood, boxwood, Canadian medlar, bilberry, snowy mespilus and poirier or petites poires."
Food source: "The berries are edible and tasty. They are a good source of iron and copper. One of the most important food sources for birds, especially those fattening up for fall migration. Berries are a preferred food of northern flicker, blue jay, American crow, gray catbird, American robin, hermit thrush, Swainson's thrush, veery, Bohemian waxwing, cedar waxwing, American redstart, northern oriole and evening grosbeak and eaten by over 30 other species. Serviceberry's early flowering in spring makes it an important initial source of pollen and nectar for bees and other insects."
When I was a kid I can remember that my stepdad's mom, Grandma Keller (an old-timer from Indiana/Illinois) often referred to Juneberries and that if she only had some she'd bake a Juneberry pie. She was the family expert on native berries and very likely the best pie maker in the county. I always regretted missing that pie, though I never could figure out what Juneberries were. Now I know. More recently my work colleagues in Regina, Saskatchewan introduced me to Saskberry (Saskatoon berry) pie and jam. Both delicious. Aha! Serviceberry!
I can attest that our local robins think serviceberries are without peer. They feast on the berries with relish. Maybe for them it's dessert after a worm diet. And they keep coming back every spring so they can prep for the next binge.
Serviceberry. A lowly name for a fine, useful, and attractive plant. Or maybe a perfect name. Perhaps what we could use in this increasingly rude, aggressive world is little more service in our lives. I'm with the robins on this one.
References:
- History And Botany Of The Genus Amelanchier
- http://ghs.gresham.k12.or.us/science/ps/nature/gorge/5petal/rose/serv.htm
- http://www3.pei.sympatico.ca/garyschneider/shrub/serberr.html
(22-Sep-2003, Revised 16-Jun-2004)
www.NorthernJourney.com -- gene@wilburn.ca