Pacific serviceberry

Leaves

Form

• Deciduous, alternate, simple
• Elliptic, rounded at both ends, thin
• Veins tend to be straight and parallel, about 10 per side
• Lower surface nearly hairless

Length

• Usually less than 8 cm

Colour

• Upper surface dark green
• Lower surface paler

Margin

• Coarsely toothed, 1–3 per lateral vein
• Mostly toothless toward the petiole

Petiole

• Slender

Buds

Form

• Narrowly ovoid
• Twisted, tapering to a point
• Pressed tightly against the twig
• About 5 scales
• Terminal bud much like the lateral buds
• Leaf scars with 3 large vein scars

Length

• 8–12 mm

Colour

• Purplish

Twigs

Form

• Slender
• Ridges extend down from either side of the leaf scar
• Pith 5-pointed
• A neoformed shoot usually develops from one or more leaf axils below a terminal flower cluster
• Becoming hairless

Colour

• Reddish-brown

Flowers

Form

• Showy; 5 petals
• In clusters at the tips of new leafy shoots
• Insect-pollinated

Length

• Lower stalks longer than the upper ones
• 4–7 cm

Colour

• White

Structure

• Synoecious

Floral timing

• Early in spring, before or with the leaves

Fruits

Form

• Berry-like, with 5–10 hard seeds
• Sweet, juicy, edible
• Coated with powder

Width

• 10–12 mm

Colour

• Purple
• Powder whitish

Timing

• Ripening in late July or early August

Seeds

Form

• Germinate after exposure to cool, moist conditions

Seedlings

Form

• Cotyledons small, leafy
• Raised above the surface during germination

Bark

Form

• Smooth, conspicuously marked by a slightly twisted network of darker vertical lines
• With age becoming rough and scaly

Colour

• Grey or brown

Size

Height

• To 10 m

Diameter

• To 20 cm

Tree form

Forest-grown

Trunk

• Slender, very little taper

Crown

• Narrow, irregular

Habitat

Site

• In the forest understory, at forest edges, on sand plains and rocky outcrops, and along fencerows

Range

Coastal British Columbia, south to central California