Amelanchier laevis Wiegand
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Authority
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.
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Family
Rosaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Tall, erect shrub or slender tree to 15 m; lvs elliptic to ovate-oblong or ovate, to 8 cm, shortly acuminate (or merely abruptly acute), finely and sharply serrate nearly to the rounded or subcordate base, the teeth more than 20 per side, and more than twice as many as the lateral veins, which curve and anastomose before reaching the margins; lvs at anthesis half-grown and glabrous or nearly so, with a prominent coppery-red cast that disappears before maturity; racemes lax, drooping in rain or soon after the twigs are cut; pedicels glabrous, 1–3 cm, the lower becoming 2.5–5 cm in fr; hypanthium glabrous externally, sep 3–4 mm, strongly reflexed after anthesis, tightly so in fr; pet slender, oblong to narrowly cuneate, mostly 15–22 mm; ovary glabrous on top; fr dark purple-red to black, sweet and juicy; mostly diploid, at least partly apomictic. Dry or moist upland woods; Nf. to Ont. and Minn., s. to Md., Ind., and Io., and in the mts. to Ga. and Ala. Apr.–June, a bit before no. 8 [Amelanchier arborea (F. Michx.) Fernald].
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Common Names
smooth serviceberry