Description

General - : Spreading or erect shrub or small tree, 1 - 5 m etres tall, but generally 3 metres high; solitary or in small dense thickets; branches smooth, dark grey to reddish brown.

Leaves - Alternate; thin, broadly elliptic to roundish, 1 - 5 cm long; round at tip, squared to rounded at base; hairless above, coarsely sharp-toothed on top half.

Flowers - many (up to 20) in short drooping or leafy clusters; white, showy, about 1-2 cm across, with 5 white petals; appearing in spring.

Fruit - Round and berry-like, appearing like miniature apples, 6 - 10 mm long, light purple to nearly black, juicy and sweet and ripening in mid- to late summer.

Habitat

Occasional; in dry to moist forests, thickets and open hillsides on well-drained soils; widespread across western boreal forests and northwards.

Notes

The reddish branchlets of the Saskatoon are best observed to distinguish it from the Shadbush and other Amelanchier species.

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