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| Practical ecological knowledge for the temperate reader. |
Saskatoon - Amelanchier alnifolia
- Family: Rosaceae - Rose [E-flora]
- Cyanogenic glycosides Berries, Tea (Leaves) Basketry, Dye, Wood Colds, Menstruation, Abortifacient
Identification
SUBTAXA PRESENT IN BC
- Amelanchier alnifolia var. alnifolia [E-flora]
- Amelanchier alnifolia var. semiintegrifolia [E-flora]
"Amelanchier alnifolia semiintegrifolia is a deciduous Shrub growing to 3 m (9ft 10in) at a slow rate.
It is hardy to zone (UK) 2 and is not frost tender. It is in flower in May, and the seeds ripen from Jun to July. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees.The plant is self-fertile.
Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and can grow in heavy clay soil. Suitable pH: acid and neutral soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers moist soil." [PFAF]
General:
"Shrub or rarely a small tree, 1-6 (10) m tall; stems slender, smooth; twigs smooth, reddish-brown; bark greyish to red-brown; sometimes spreading by rhizomes or stolons and forming dense colonies."
[IFBC-E-flora]
Leaves:
"Alternate, deciduous, oval to oblong-elliptic or nearly round, saw-toothed mostly on top half but sometimes nearly entire, broadly rounded to somewhat squared-off at the tip, smooth to variously hairy at least below; blades 2-5 cm long, stalks 0.5-2 cm long."
[IFBC-E-flora]
Flowers:
"Inflorescences short, drooping to erect, leafy or bracted, terminal racemes at the ends of branches; flowers 3 to 20, on slender ascending stalks; corollas white, the petals 5, linear to lanceolate, 6-25 mm long; calyces 5-lobed, the lobes lance-triangular, 1-5 mm long, the hypanthium 1-2 mm long; ovaries inferior, smooth or hairy on top; stamens about 20."
[IFBC-E-flora]
Fruits:
"Berry-like pomes (like miniature apples), crowned with the persistent calyx, globe- to egg-shaped, 5-14 mm long, dull red initially, becoming purple to nearly black, with a white bloom."
[IFBC-E-flora]
Status: Native [E-flora]
Identification and Taxonomic Notes
"Amelanchier cusickii flowers 10 to 15 days before A. alnifolia, which suggests that these two are genetically distinct. G. N. Jones (1946) noted that A. alnifolia and A. cusickii frequently grow together but that there is “no evidence of hybridization.” It should be noted that Jones discounted hybridization in the genus, even denying hybrid status to A. x neglecta." - Campbell & Doucette
[E-flora]
Notes: Four intergrading varieties occur in BC:
1. Petals less than 12 mm long; tops of ovaries strongly hairy.
2. Flowers generally with 4 styles; leaves entire or with a few tiny teeth near tips................. var. humptulipensis (G.N. Jones) C.L. Hitchc.
2. Flowers generally with 5 styles; leaves usually strongly toothed on upper half..................... var. alnifolia
1. Petals over 12 mm long; tops of ovaries hairy or smooth.
3. Petals generally less than 16 mm long and 4 mm wide; calyx lobes averaging less than 3 mm long; top of ovary woolly....................var. semiintegrifolia (Hook.) C.L. Hitchc.
3. Petals generally greater than 16 mm long and up to 8.5 mm wide; calyx lobes averaging more than 3 mm long; top of ovary smooth to moderately hairy...................... var. cusickii (Fern.) C.L. Hitchc. [IFBC-E-flora]
USDA Flower Colour: White
USDA Blooming Period: Early Summer
USDA Fruit/Seed characteristics:
-
Colour: Red
Present from Summer to Fall[USDA-E-flora]
Synonyms
Amelanchier alnifolia. non Nutt. A. florida. A. oxyodon [PFAF]
Amelanchier alnifolia var. pumila (Torr. & A. Gray) C.K. Schneid. [E-flora]
Amelanchier basalticola Piper [E-flora]
Amelanchier cuneata Piper [E-flora]
Amelanchier glabra Greene [E-flora]
Amelanchier polycarpa Greene [E-flora]
Ecological Indicator Information
"A shade-tolerant to shade-intolerant, submontane to montane, North American deciduous shrub distributed equally in the Pacific, Cordilleran, and Central regions. Occurs on moderately dry to fresh, nitrogen-medium soils within boreal, cool temperate, cool semiarid, and cool mesothermal climates. Its occurrence increases with increasing continentality, and decreases with increasing precipitation and elevation. Common to scattered in clearings and open-canopy Douglas-fir and lodgepole pine stands on water-shedding sites. Characteristic of young seral forests on disturbed sites."[IFBC-E-flora]
Habitat / Range
"Dry to mesic, open rocky slopes, bluffs, gullies, thickets, forest margins and open forests in the lowland to subalpine zones; common throughout BC, especially in C and S BC, east of the Coast-Cascade Mountains; N to AK, E to AB and S to CA, NE, ND, CO and AZ."
[IFBC-E-flora] "In Canada, the
species is found in British Columbia, Alberta,
Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, North
West Territories and Nunavut." [EMNMPV.4]
"THIS is a common shrub of the Northwest, ranging from western Ontario to British Columbia, south to Nebraska, Colorado, and California." [EWP] "Serviceberry prefers a moderate amount of sunlight and can be found in
open areas, in open woods (alder or aspen), on hillsides, in burn or logged
areas east of the Cascades, and from sea level to mid-mountain altitudes." [Krumm PNBB]
Hazards
"For mature cattle, the
lethal dose of hydrogen cyanide is 2-4 mg/kg body weight. The cyanogenic glycoside in
Saskatoon is prunasin. Saskatoon leaves or twigs can contain as much as 3% prunasin
which is equivalent to a content of 0.27% hydrogen cyanide on a dry matter basis.
Therefore 3 kg of fresh leaves or 1.2 kg of fresh twigs can be enough to kill a 500-kg
Stock-poisoning Plants of Western Canada - 2008 10
(1100-lb) animal." [Majak SPPWC]
Edible Uses
- Berries: Used by virtually all Indigenous groups of central and western Canada, as well as those of southern Alaska and all of the western and north central States. Fresh, Dried, canned or frozen. They are used to make syrups, puddings, pies, muffins, syrup and wine.[Turner, Kuhnlein] "Edible fruit - raw or cooked[2, 11, 118, 257]. A sweet and succulent fruit[82], it is soft and juicy with a few small seeds in the centre and has a hint of apple in the flavour[K]. A very acceptable fruit that can be eaten in quantity, it matures about 2 - 3 weeks later than most other members of the genus[K]. Formerly an important food for the N. American Indians[82], it can also be dried and used as a raisin substitute[183]. It is up to 13mm in diameter[200]. The fruit is rich in iron and copper[226]." [PFAF] The berries, when fully ripe, are dark purple with a bloom. They are sweet and edible. The plant is often cultivated for its fruit in the East. "The edible pulp is an article of food among the Indians, but its sickly-sweetish taste is not pleasant to epicurean palates." & "They are insipid in all the species. Those of the species which grow at lower levels are nearly dry and consequently useless for food." [EWP]
- Properties: "...serviceberry has a uniquely sweet and delicate flavor. It doesn’t taste at all like huckleberries
or blueberries...sweet and gentle on the tongue
and senses." [Krumm PNBB]
- Harvesting: Berries ripen from early July through August. [Turner, Kuhnlein][Krumm PNBB] "late June through early August" [Krumm PNBB] "some forms now under
cultivation in W Canada." [ETWP]
- Preparation: "The fruits were eaten fresh, alone or with oil. Often they were mixed with other, less palatable berries as a sweetener. The Lillooet of British Columbia mixed them with the bitter fruits of red-osier dogwood. Saskatoons could be eaten in their dried state as a snack, reconstituted by soaking in water, or cooked in various dishes. The Blackfoot used large quantities of them in soups and stews. Cooked with salmon, salmon-heads or salmon eggs, deer blood and meat, tiger lily bulbs, and other types of berries, such as mountain blueberries."[Turner, Kuhnlein] "Juneberries do
have seeds, but unlike those of the other fruits, they are so small that
you don’t notice them." [CIRHM]
- Preservation: "Most, but not all, groups also dried saskatoons. Drying was accomplished by spreading the berries out on mats in the sun to dry like raisins, or by cooking, mashing, and spreading the resulting jam-like mixture on leaves or grass set on racks to dry as cakes or loaves. Sometimes the berries were smoke-dried over a slow fire, and some people strained off the juice from the drying berries and drank it, used it to marinate other foods, or simply poured it over the berries as they dried. The Gitksan of British Columbia sometimes added extra fresh berries at the end of the drying process, or mixed in crushed bunchberries (Cornus canadensis) to prevent the berry cakes from cracking when rolled up for storage."[Turner, Kuhnlein]
- "Pemmican, energy-rich food for hunters and travellers, consisted of pounded, dried saskatoons mixed with animal fat and dried meat. A similar mixture was made by the Interior Salish peoples of British Columbia from the dried berries pounded together with salmon oil and dried, powdered sockeye salmon, or cured salmon eggs." [Turner, Kuhnlein]
- Peeled saskatoon sticks were boiled in sturgeon oil for about 10 minutes to keep the oil fresh during storage.[Turner, Kuhnlein]
- Some Indians preferred to use the fruit of some serviceberries before it turned red or purple.[Harrington] "The only objectionable feature being the large seeds which may be bad tasting to some, but are said by some people to add to the flavor. They tend to dry on the plant and late in the season can be picked, eaten raw, or cooked into a puree or jam. Cooking makes the skins and seeds more palatable after this drying." [Harrington]
- Bark: "Cambium of shrub considered
nutritious and given to Native American babies." [Meuninck EWPUH] This is a lone report and may be erroneous given the cyanogenic content of the plant [Personal Note]
- Tea: Some Nlaka'pamux people made a beverage tea from the twigs.[Turner, Kuhnlein] Leaves: A tea substitute[161, 257] [PFAF][EMNMPV.4]
Other Uses
- Rope: "Young branches can be twisted to make a rope[257]" [PFAF]
- Dye: "Juneberry juice is also used for a purple dye. The juice is very strong.
Its color won’t wash out." [CIRHM]
- Wood: "Wood - tough, hard, heavy, close grained[82, 118]." [PFAF] "Hard, straight grained, tough. Used for tool handles etc. The wood can be made even harder by heating it over a fire and it is easily moulded whilst still hot[99]" [PFAF] the wood was sometimes used for arrows. [Turner&Bell1]
- Basketry: "The young stems are used to make rims, handles and as a stiffening in basket making [257]" [PFAF]
- Veterinary Use: *Lameness(Veterinary) Hart [Duke]
- Windbreak: "Plants have a spreading, suckering root system and are used in windbreaks for erosion control[200]" [PFAF]
Medicinal Uses
"Saskatoon was quite widely employed as a medicinal herb by the North American Indians, who used it to treat a wide range of minor complaints[257]. It is little used in modern herbalism" [PFAF]
- Bark:
- "An infusion of the inner bark is used as a treatment for snow-blindness[172]. A decoction of the fruit juice is mildly laxative. It has been used in the treatment of upset stomachs, to restore the appetite in children, it is also applied externally as ear and eye drops[257]. A strong decoction of the bark was taken immediately after childbirth to hasten the dropping of the placenta. It was said to help clean out and help heal the woman's insides and also to stop her menstrual periods after the birth, thus acting as a form of birth control[257]" [PFAF]
- Roots:
- "A decoction of the roots has been used in the treatment of colds[257]. It has also been used as a treatment for too frequent menstruation[257]" [PFAF] "Teething babies sipped on a decoction of the
roots." [Meuninck EWPUH]
- Stems:
- "A decoction of the stems, combined with the stems of snowberry (Symphoricarpos spp) is diaphoretic. It has been used to induce sweating in the treatment of fevers, flu etc and also in the treatment of chest pains and lung infections[257]" [PFAF] "Decoction of
twigs and branches used to relieve cold symptoms and fever." [NAH Orr]
- Plant:
- "A compound concoction of the plant has been used in the treatment of gonorrhoea[257]." [PFAF]
- "A decoction of the plant, together with bitter cherry (Prunus emarginata) has been used as a contraceptive[257]. Other recipes involving this plant have also been used as contraceptives including a decoction of the ashes of the plant combined with the ashes of pine branches or buds[257]" [PFAF]
- Leaves used as a tea to reduce blood pressure. [Chu PP]
- "Native Americans boiled berries and used decoction as an antiseptic, typically for earaches and colds." [Meuninck EWPUH]
- "Sharpened twigs used to puncture pustules on people and animals. Boiled
bark taken for stomachaches." [Meuninck EWPUH]
Nutritional
100g (fresh wt.) of the berries contains 90kcal of food energy, 76g water, 0.7g protein, 1.2g fat, 21.4g carbs, 6.4g crude fiber, 0.7g ash, <0.01 mg Thiamine, <0.01 mg Riboflavin, 0.3 mg Niacin, 15.7 mg Vit. C, 86 RE Vit. A, 69mg Calcium, 40mg Phosphorus, 0.6mg Sodium, 244mg Potassium, 26mg Magnesium, 0.4mg Copper, 0.4mg Zinc, 0.5mg Iron, and 2.2mg Manganese. [Turner, Kuhnlein]
Cultivation
"Prefers a rich loamy soil in a sunny position or semi-shade[1, 200] but thrives in any soil that is not too dry or water-logged[11]. Grows well in heavy clay soils. Plants are hardy to about -35oc[160]. All members of this genus have edible fruits and, whilst this is dry and uninteresting in some species, in many others it is sweet and juicy. Many of the species have potential for use in the garden as edible ornamentals. This species is particularly interesting because it is quite compact and produces an excellent quality quite large fruit[K]. The main draw-back to this genus is that birds adore the fruit and will often completely strip a tree before it is fully ripe[K]. This species loses its leaves early in the autumn, especially in dry years[K]. Closely related to, and included as a sub-species of A. alnifolia by most botanists. Hybridizes freely with other members of this genus[200]. Grafting onto seedlings of A. lamarckii or Sorbus aucuparia is sometimes practised in order to avoid the potential problem of hybridizing[1]." [PFAF]
"It is frost resistant to −20oC. It prefers a
rich, well-drained loamy soil in but will grow in any
sandy or clayey soil that is not water-logged or too
dry. It is quite drought tolerant and is also salt tolerant. It thrives in a sunny position or semi-shade."[EMNMPV.4]
Disease: "Amelanchier alnifolia (Saskatoon berries tree) is an important fruit shrub to the economy
of the Canadian prairies and is yearly threatened by Entomosporium leaf and berry spots." [Quideau RAPR]
Propagation
"Seed - it is best harvested 'green', when the seed is fully formed but before the seed coat has hardened, and then sown immediately in pots outdoors or in a cold frame. If stored seed is obtained early enough in the autumn, it can be given 4 weeks warm stratification before being left out in the winter and it should then germinate in the spring. Otherwise seed can be very slow to germinate, perhaps taking 18 months or more. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in a sheltered outdoor position, planting them out once they are 20cm or more tall. If there is sufficient seed it is best to sow it thinly in an outdoor seedbed[78, 80]. Grow the seedlings on for two years in the seedbed before planting them out into their permanent positions during the winter. Layering in spring - takes 18 months[78]. Division of suckers in late winter. The suckers need to have been growing for 2 years before you dig them up, otherwise they will not have formed roots. They can be planted out straight into their permanent positions if required." [PFAF] "...100 kg of serviceberries (Amelanchier alnifolia)
yields only 3 kg of clean seed" [McKell BUS] "A seed crop is produced every three to five years and should be collected in late
summer. The best method of collection is to knock the fruit onto a canvas or directly
into hoppers. Extract seeds by macerating in water and washing over screens and
clean by drying and rubbing through the screen, then running through a fanning mill.
Store seeds dry in a sealed container at 5oC for no more than five years (Brinkman
1974)." [PPNWNP]
"Vegetative: Saskatoon serviceberry can be vegetatively propagated by both root
cuttings and division. Take root cuttings during the dormant season, optimally
December to February. Take one-year-old, fleshy roots the diameter of a pencil, from
as close to the crown of the plant as possible. Cut roots to 5 cm in length with a
horizontal cut at the proximal end and a slanted cut at the distal end. Treat cuttings
with a fungicide before sticking vertically in rows, 5 cm apart, with the proximal end
at soil level, and covered with 1.5 cm of perlite. Division is best if done in early
spring. Remove suckers by cutting with a sharp spade. Wash off excess soil. Cut back
the stem and trim the root system. Plant the division in pots, beds, or open ground.
Adequate irrigation is required to prevent the roots from drying out (Macdonald
1986)." [PPNWNP]
Use of Related Sp.
"Amelanchier ovalis (Snowy mespilus); Rosaceae—C S Europe; fruits eaten raw." [ETWP]
References
- Duke - http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/duke/ethnobot.pl?Amelanchier%20alnifolia, Accessed Dec 23, 2014
- E-flora - http://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/Atlas/Atlas.aspx?sciname=Amelanchier%20alnifolia&redblue=Both&lifeform=4, Accessed Aug 5, 2017 (Images taken from an earlier date)
- PFAF - Accessed March 31, 2015
Page last modified on
Thursday, June 11, 2020 6:06 AM
