Roundleaf serviceberry

Photo: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions. Vol. 2: 293 — Public domain · source

Survives zone 4 through 8

Harvest calendar

Best planted in early spring after your last frost, or in fall before the ground freezes, depending on your climate.

A dry-ground serviceberry of rocky and calcareous sites, named for the reddish young growth. Sweet, blueberry-like fruit, popular with birds as much as people.

Hardiness

Zone 4–8

Habit

Shrub

Edible part

Fruit

Ripens

June–July

Mature size

Shrub to about 3 m (10 ft), usually multi-stemmed

Light

Full sun to semi-shade

Soil pH

5.5–7.5 (mildly acid to mildly alkaline)

Environment

Temperate

Native range

Eastern North America — Maine to New Jersey west to Minnesota and Iowa, north into Quebec, Ontario and Saskatchewan; rocky slopes, cliffs and open woods, often on limestone.

Status

Wild

Years to fruit

2–4 yrs

Growth speed

Medium

Spacing

250 cm (98 in) apart — about 6.3 m² (67 sq ft) per plant

Leaf shape

Alternate, broadly oval to nearly round, 3–6 cm, coarsely and sharply toothed nearly to the base — the coarse teeth separate it from most other serviceberries.

Root system

Shallow, fibrous and suckering — the plant spreads into a multi-stemmed thicket by root shoots. That habit is how it is usually propagated, and the reason a single plant becomes a colony unless the suckers are removed.

Fruit description

Blueberry-like berries in small clusters, up to 11 mm across, sweet-flavoured

Propagation

Seed (slow to germinate, sometimes 18+ months), spring layering, or division of two-year-plus root suckers

Pollination

Hermaphroditic, insect-pollinated (bees) and self-fertile.

The edible parts listed above are a starting point, not a field guide. Identify a plant with certainty — ideally against a local authority — before eating any part of it, and read the full disclaimer. Spotted something wrong? Report it.