Plant · P-385

Allegheny Serviceberry

Amelanchier laevis

Allegheny Serviceberry is a multi-trunked small tree grown mainly for its sweet, iron-and-copper-rich berries, up to 18 millimeters across, eaten fresh, cooked, or dried for winter storage - though birds strip the fruit fast, so timing the harvest matters. Its early white flowers are some of the first spring forage for pollinators, and the wood is exceptionally hard and heavy, traditionally worked into tool handles despite the short lengths a multi-trunked tree yields. It needs cool summers and consistent moisture, declining wherever summers run long, hot and dry, and it prefers acid soil over alkaline ground.