Serviceberry

Amelanchier ovalis, the snowy mespilus or European serviceberry, is a thornless, deciduous shrub in the rose family (Rosaceae) with an irregular, spreading habit, typically growing 3 m tall and occasionally reaching 5 m. Young shoots are slender and white-haired, maturing to olive or reddish-brown; the buds are conspicuously felted. The alternate leaves are round to egg-shaped, 2–5 cm long, hairless above and initially hairy beneath, becoming glabrous through the season. Showy white flowers appear in April and May, borne in three to eight erect terminal racemes. The fruits are small, spherical pomes about 1 cm in diameter that ripen black in July and August, containing little flesh. The species is native to central and southern Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, where it occurs in prealpine and submediterranean climates on sunny, dry, steep slopes and in light oak and pine forests on calcareous substrates at elevations up to 2,800 m.