Common Name: coastal serviceberry
Type: Deciduous shrub
Family: Rosaceae
Native Range: Eastern North America
Zone: 5 to 8
Height: 3.00 to 5.00 feet
Spread: 3.00 to 5.00 feet
Bloom Time: March to April
Bloom Description: White
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Dry to medium
Maintenance: Low
Suggested Use: Hedge
Flower: Showy
Attracts: Birds
Fruit: Showy, Edible
Tolerate: Drought, Dry Soil
Culture
Easily grown in average, dry to medium moisture, sandy/gravelly, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade. Tolerates moist soils. Prune out dead and weakened shoots in late winter.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Amelanchier obovalis, commonly called coastal serviceberry or coastal juneberry or shadbush, is a compact, deciduous shrub of the rose family that typically grows to 3-5’ tall and as wide, spreading over time by stolons to form dense colonies. It is primarily native to dry open woods and pine barrens scattered along the Atlantic coastal plain from New York and Massachusetts south to Georgia and Alabama.
This shrub is noted for its (1) small 5-petaled white flowers which bloom in upright racemes in March-April, (2) edible purple-black fruits (pomes to 3/8” diameter) which ripen in May-June, (3) finely-toothed, glabrous, dull pale green leaves (to 2” long) are ovate to oblong to obovate, and (4) green-yellow-orange fall foliage color.
It is similar to Amelanchier canadensis but much shorter. Amalenchier canadensis var. obovalis is a synonym.
Genus name comes from a French provincial name for Amelanchier ovalis a European plant in this genus.
Specific epithet is in reference to the obovate shape of the flower petals and some of the leaves.
Common names of juneberry (fruits mature in June) and shadbush (shad begin to run in local rivers at the time of flowering) are descriptive of shrub characteristics.
Problems
No serious insect or disease problems. Rust, leaf spot, fire blight, powdery mildew and canker are occasional disease problems.
Uses
Attractive compact shrub for lawns, shrub borders, woodland margins or native plant areas. Good plant for bird gardens (birds love the fruits). Naturalized plantings. Hedge.