Amelanchier humilis

Amelanchier humilis, the low or running serviceberry, is a small deciduous shrub of the family Rosaceae growing to about 0.5-1.5 m tall and spreading by underground rhizomes to form low, suckering colonies in dry prairies, open woodland, and rocky outcrops across central and northeastern North America from Saskatchewan and the Dakotas east to Quebec and New Jersey. The slender, grey-barked stems carry alternate, broadly elliptic to ovate leaves up to about 5 cm long, with finely toothed margins, rounded to slightly heart-shaped bases, and silvery-hairy undersides that mature to a smoother dull green and turn yellow to orange-red in autumn. Short upright racemes of five-petalled white flowers appear with the unfolding leaves in spring, followed in early summer by small, juicy, dark purple-black pomes resembling tiny apples, with a sweet, mildly apple-like flavour.