Taxonomy
Family: Rosaceae
Habitat
Subalpine and cool northern forests, opening, ridges.
Associates
Distribution
Labrador to James Bay and Manitoba, south to New England, NY, northern MI, and northern MN, and high in mountains to PA and WV.
Morphology
Clumping shrub to 2 m; leaves imbricate in bud, short-petiolate, oblong-elliptic or somewhat obovate, often mucronate, tapering to the base, sharply serrate, glabrous, often coppery when young; petiole 3-10(-15) mm; flowers solitary or often 2-4(5) together on glabrous pedicels 1-3 cm, 1 terminal, the others from adjacent leaf axils; sepals triangular-acuminate, ascending or spreading, tomentose on the upper side; petals elliptic, 6-10 mm, often more than half as wide; ovary densely tomentose at the summit, tapering into the styles; fruit dark purple, 1 cm, longer than thick, often some of the seeds abortive.
Notes
Flowers May to August
Wetland Indicator: FAC
Differs from other Amelanchier spp. in having flowers in groups of only 1-4(rarely 5) rather than several to many in racemes. The ovary also tapers nto the styles rather than being broadly rounded or flattened at the apex.
References
Gleason, Henry A.
and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States
and Adjacent Canada. Second Ed.
The New York Botanical Garden. Bronx, NY
© Michael Hough 2018 |