Amelanchier alnifolia
Amelanchier alnifolia or Saskatoon berry offers tasty blueberry-like fruit and is also in important pollinator plant.
Amelanchier alnifolia is best-known as the Saskatoon berry but is also called the western or alder leaved serviceberry. It is a super hardy medium sized to large deciduous shrub that produces lovely white flowers in spring followed by tasty blue to purple-black fruit in summer that can be used in jams, jellies, pies, and herbal teas. The fruit have a similar nutrient profile to blueberries. The fruit was an important food for First Nations peoples who added the berries to dried meat to make pemmican. It is also an important larval host to the caterpillars of various swallowtail butterfly species. The fruit is eaten by birds, squirrels, and other wildlife. Photo: Wikipedia.
Common Name: Saskatoon Berry
Family: Rosaceae (The Rose Family)
Zone Hardiness: 2-9
Light: Full Sun Part Sun
Height: 6-10'
Width: 3-5'
Primary Bloom Colour: White/Cream
Secondary Bloom Colour: Green
Class: Deciduous
Type: Shrub
Bloom Time: Spring
Soil Moisture: Average, Moist, Wet , Dry
Stem Colour:
Fragrance: Yes
Berries: Purple
Benefits: Bees Butterflies
Deer Resistant: No
BC Native: Yes
Native Habitat: Dry to mesic and sometimes moist sites on open rocky slopes and bluffs and in gullies, thickets, open forests and at forest margins from sea level to the subalpine across much of western North America.
Award:
Geographical Origin:
