A deciduous shrub 4 to 6 ft high, increasing by underground suckers and forming a small thicket of stiff, erect stems. Leaves oval, sometimes inclined to ovate, finely toothed except towards the base where they are rounded or slightly heart-shaped; 1 to 2 in. long, 3⁄4 to 11⁄4 in. wide; green when young, covered beneath for a short time with white down, soon nearly or completely glabrous; stalk 1⁄4 to 5⁄8 in. long. Flowers white, produced on short, erect racemes; petals 1⁄3 in. long, broadening towards the rounded end. Fruit purplish black, glaucous, ‘sweet, juicy and of good flavour, ripening in July’ (Wiegand).
Native of eastern N. America from Newfoundland to Virginia, in non-calcareous soils. In the attractive but confusing group of suckering amelanchiers of its native region it is distinguished by the following group of characters: habit dwarf; leaves finely toothed; summit of ovary woolly.
A. humilis Wieg. – This species is closely related to A. stolonifera but differs mainly in the more coarsely toothed leaves. The two species are merged by Jones (op. cit.) under the name A. spicata (Lam.) K. Koch, which in the present work is used in a different sense.
A. obovalis (Michx.) Ashe Mespilus canadensis var. obovalis Michx. – A species of the coastal plain from Pennsylvania to Georgia. It resembles A. stolonifera in habit but bears its flowers early in spring on the leafless wood; the glabrous ovary also serves to distinguish it. In the latter character and the erect sepals it recalls A. canadensis but is a dwarfer plant. So far as is known, it has not been introduced, and might prove tender.
From the Supplement (Vol. V)
A deciduous shrub 4 to 6 ft high, increasing by underground suckers and forming a small thicket of stiff, erect stems. Leaves oval, oblong or almost orbicular, rounded and often mucronate at the apex, 1 to 2 in. long, 3⁄4 to 11⁄4 in. wide, finely toothed (fifteen to twenty-five teeth per inch), covered beneath with a white down when young, soon glabrous or almost so; lateral veins in mostly seven to ten pairs, not running out to the teeth. Flowers white in late April or early May, produced in short, dense, erect racemes. Sepals soon reflexing from the middle. Petals about 3⁄8 in. long, strap-shaped or narrowly oblanceolate. Top of ovary hairy. Fruits blue-black, juicy, ripe in July.
Native of eastern North America from Newfoundland to Virginia, west to the region of the Great Lakes, described in 1912. It is of no value in gardens except perhaps in rough places where its stoloniferous habit might be useful.
A. humilis Wieg. – This species is closely allied to A. stolonifera but differs mainly in the more coarsely toothed leaves. The two species are united by G. N. Jones in his monograph under the name A. spicata (Lam.) K. Koch, which in the present work is used in a different sense (see above).
A. obovalis (Michx.) Ashe Mespilus canadensis var. obovalis Michx. – A species of the coastal plain from Pennsylvania to Georgia. It resembles A. stolonifera in habit, but bears its flowers in early spring on the leafless wood; the glabrous top of the ovary also serves to distinguish it. In the latter character and the erect sepals of the fruits it recalls A. canadensis, but is a dwarfer plant. It may not have been introduced.
