PlantFiles: Downy Serviceberry, Shadblow, Juneberry, Sarvis Tree
Amelanchier arborea

I was given some juneberries from a friend who bought them from seeds and is growing them. She gave them to me so I could collect the seeds and grow my own. I'm having a hard time finding info about seed saving of this plant. I saw your note about stratify and looked that up. I'll do that but I wasn't sure about your note regarding removing the "fleshy coating" from the seeds before storing. Do you mean the berry flesh/meat or is there another layer? (kinda like tomatoes have that sac layer). You've got me here with a small knife and a flea sized seed trying to see if there's more goodies inside it that I need to "release"...oh, I think I'm making this to hard!

This small tree grew and fruited beautifully for us in northern Massachusetts. We loved it so much that we are trying it again here in northern Maryland. Our current tree was planted only last fall so I don't know how it will do here, but it came from a local nursery that specializes in native plants. I have my fingers crossed that cedar apple rust won't spoil the fruit for birds. It was not a problem in MA, but I see it occurs here.

The bird you are seeing eating the service berries is probably a cedar waxwing. In my area I have found that, in the spring, they swarm crabapples and eat the fruit that remains on the tree after a winter of freezing and thawing. I can certainly see how the fruit would be fermented and lead to drunken behavior!

We have serviceberry trees all over our 10 acres east of Durango, CO. Our home is at 8,000 ft. and they grow everywhere around here. Have tried to eat but found them rather bland. However, every fall when the berries are ripe there is a certain gray and yellow bird that loves these berries and generally get "drunk" on them and fly into our large front windows. Believe they see the tree in the glass and think it's another tree. have to cover the windows during this time (about 3 weeks) because we have found up to 6 dead birds per day. Rather funny to watch these birds as they will literally fall out of the trees!

Here in western Upper Michigan, Juneberry (locally called "sugar plums" by many) trees grow just about everywhere. They seem to be in the highest concentrations along the old railroad grades.

They seem to grow tall like a tree, where the berries are high off of the ground, if they are in an area where they must compete for sunlight. If they are in an open area, they seem to grow more like an extremely large bush, with a good number of berries at an easy picking height.

Sarvis trees grow plentifully on my brother-in-law's farm in Crossville, TN under dense forest. The berries are sugar sweet, but the birds get most of them, since most of them are up out of reach. I am wanting to try them in East Texas, but I do not know their chill requirements.

W.A. McCormick
Lindale, TX

Downy Serviceberry, Shadblow, Juneberry, Sarvis Tree, Amelanchier arborea is native to Texas and other States.

The plant that I have is a small shrub growing only 2 feet tall at the most. The berries are very sweet and my wife and I fight to see who gets to pick them. I propigated them by digging up suckers and transplanting them.

Downy serviceberry is a deciduous, early-flowering, large shrub or small tree which typically grows 15-25' tall in cultivation but can reach 40' in the wild. A Missouri native plant that occurs most often in open rocky woods, wooded slopes, and bluffs. Features 5-petaled, showy, slightly fragrant, white flowers in drooping clusters which appear before the leaves emerge in early spring. The finely-toothed, obovate leaves exhibit good fall color. Flowers give way to small, round green berries which turn red and finally mature to a dark purplish-black in early summer. Edible berries resemble blueberries in size and color and are often used in jams, jellies and pies. Amelanchiers are commonly called juneberries.