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Amelanchier sanguinea (Pursh) DC.
Roundleaf Serviceberry
Federal Protection: No US federal protection
State Protection: No Georgia state protection
Global Rank: G5
State Rank: S1?
Element Locations Tracked in Biotics: Yes
SWAP 2015 Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN): Yes
SWAP 2025 Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN): No
2025 SGCN Priority Tier: None
Element Occurrences (EOs) in Georgia: 5
Habitat Summary for element in Georgia: Rocky slopes
Shrub or small tree usually with several trunks up to 23 feet (7 meters) tall, though usually much shorter, often forming colonies of many stems. Twigs are reddish-brown, and the bark on mature trunks is gray and smooth with shallow furrows. Leaves are 1 - 3 inches long and 0.7 - 2 inches wide (2.7 - 7.8 cm long and 1.9 - 5.5 cm wide), alternate, oblong, oval or nearly round, with rounded bases and blunt or rounded tips; as the leaves expand at flowering time, they are bronzy-red and folded up along the midvein; at maturity, leaves are green and flat (not folded), sparsely to densely hairy on the lower surface and sparsely hairy on the upper surface; the leaf margins are coarsely toothed, with 2 - 6 sharp teeth per 0.4 inch (1 cm), with the lateral veins (or their forks) running into the teeth. Inflorescences are held at the tips of twigs and have more than 4 flowers (usually 7 - 10), emerging at the same time as the leaves. Flowers are 0.6 - 1.6 inch (1.6 - 4 cm) wide, with 5 white, more-or-less oblong petals and numerous white stamens; flowers appear just before or with the new leaves; the green cup (hypanthium) surrounding the base of the flower has five down-curved, pointed lobes and is hairy, as is the top of the ovary. Fruits are 0.4 inch (1 cm) in diameter, round, fleshy, sweet, and red to dark purple.
Downy Serviceberry (Amelanchier arborea) is common throughout Georgia and can be quite variable in appearance. Although it is usually a small, single-trunked tree, it may also form colonies or have several trunks rising from the same crown. Its leaves are usually oval to oblong with nearly heart-shaped bases and tapering, pointed tips. They are densely hairy when immature and smooth when mature. The margins are finely toothed (5 - 9 teeth per centimeter), and the lateral veins become indistinct near the margin and do not extend into the teeth. Flowering and leaf emergence are concurrent.
Smooth Serviceberry (Amelanchier laevis) is found in forests and clearings in high-elevation mountain sites in Georgia. Its leaves are oval to oblong, the tips rounded or blunt with a tiny point. Lower leaf surfaces are mostly smooth and hairless by flowering time. The lateral leaf veins become indistinct near the leaf margin and do not extend into the teeth. Its flowers are less than 1.2 inch (3 cm) wide.
Coastal Plain Serviceberry (Amelanchier obovalis) occurs in evergreen shrub bogs and wet pine savannas in the Coastal Plain. It forms dense colonies of many stems up to 8 feet tall.
Dry, rocky woodlands and outcrops: gneiss and mafic outcrops in NE Georgia, and sandstone outcrops in NW Georgia.
Roundleaf Serviceberry is a deciduous shrub or small tree that may occur singly but often forms colonies or thickets by the spread of rhizomes. It also reproduces sexually by seed. Leaves and flowers emerge in early spring at about the same time. In general, Amelanchier flowers are cross-pollinated by a variety of insects, such as bees, flies, and beetles. A number of butterfly and moth species use Amelanchier as host plants for their larvae. The fruits are eaten by birds and mammals and the twigs by deer and rabbits.
Amelanchier species are known by a variety of interesting common names. One interpretation of the name Serviceberry is that “service” refers to the plants’ flowering at about the same time that warmer weather allowed circuit-riding ministers to resume church services in remote areas of the mountains. Some sources say that “service” instead derives from the name of a related genus, Sorbus. “Sarvis,” another common name, is an alternate pronunciation of “service.” Shadbush refers to the fish, American Shad, that migrates upriver to spawn at about the same time as Amelanchier flowers. Shadblow is similar, with “blow” being an old-fashioned term for flowering.
Flowering occurs from early April through early May, with fruits maturing May–June. Plants may be identified throughout the growing season by a combination of growth form, bark, and leaf characteristics.
Georgia, west to Nebraska and Minnesota and north to Ontario and New Brunswick. It is common throughout most of its range but is rare in Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, and New Jersey.
Round-leaved Serviceberry is somewhat protected from logging and development by its dry, rocky, high elevation habitat. However, changing climate conditions may make this habitat too hot and too dry to sustain this species. Various insect feeders attack Amelanchier species. Fire blight and other diseases of related plants (apples, pears, roses, blackberries, etc.) may be spread by pollinators to even this species' remote locations.
Round-leaved Serviceberry is ranked S1 by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, indicating that it is critically imperiled in the state due to low number of populations. It has been found at only five rock outcrops in north Georgia, all on US Forest Service land. Georgia’s plants are the southernmost populations of this species. Plants occurring at the periphery of a species’ range are thought to be of special conservation importance. Peripheral populations are usually smaller and less genetically diverse within the population, but genetically divergent from centrally located populations. These genetic differences may confer special survival traits that plants in other portions of the species’ range lack, such as the ability to survive changes in the climate or the arrival of a new pathogen. Peripheral populations may be in the process of evolving into a new species. They are especially deserving of conservation action.
Protect high-elevation outcrops from recreational use such as climbing, rappelling, and camping. Position hiking trails on outcrops away from vegetation. Prevent development on high-elevation ridges and outcrops.
Chayka, K. and P.M. Dzuik. 2019. Minnesota Wildflowers: a field guide to the flora of Minnesota. Accessed 1 July 2019. https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/shrub/inland-serviceberry
GADNR. 2019. Element occurrence records for Amelanchier sanguinea. Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division. Social Circle, Georgia.
Marlow, J.K. 2019. Amelanchier sanguinea, Roundleaf Serviceberry, New England Serviceberry. NameThatPlant.net: Native Plants of the Carolinas & Georgia. Accessed 1 July 2019. http://www.namethatplant.net/
NatureServe. 2019. Species account for Amelanchier sanguinea. NatureServe Explorer: an online encyclopedia of life, Version 7.1. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia. Accessed 1 July 2019. http://explorer.natureserve.org/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Amelanchier+sanguinea
Campbell, C.S., M.B. Burgess, K.R. Cushman, E.T. Doucette, A.C. Dibble, C.T. Frye. 1995. Species account for Amelanchier sanguinea. Flora of North America North of Mexico, vol. 9. Oxford University Press, New York. http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=250100031
Weakley, A.S. 2015. Flora of the southern and mid-Atlantic States. University of North Carolina Herbarium, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. http://www.herbarium.unc.edu/flora.htm
Wiegand, K.M. 1912. The genus Amelanchier in Eastern North America. Rhodora 14(163): 117-161. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=R1pEAAAAYAAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA117&dq=Wiegand,+K.M.+1912.+The+genus+Amelanchier+in+Eastern+North+America.+Rhodora+14(163):+117-161.&ots=CbTexwCA0P&sig=OjMNsnlg0_s0LH1eY7P3MdMG37U#v=onepage&q&f=false
Linda G. Chafin
Linda G. Chafin, 1 July 2019: original account.
