Relatives

Amelanchier ovalis Medik. - Garden serviceberry.

Taxonomic position.

Family Rosaceae Juss. genus Amelanchier Medik.

Synonyms.

Crataegus rotundifolia Lam., Amelanchier rotundifolia (Lam.) Dum.-Cours.

Morphology and biology.

Deciduous shrub, 0.5-3m high. Leaves are solid, ovate, elliptic, oval-shaped at the tip, naked from above, with simple, sharp, directly pointed denticles along the edge. Flowers are not large, clustered in dense corymbiform racemes consisting of 5-8 flowers. Pedicels, as well as the hypanthium, are tomentose from the beginning and then naked. Sepals are triangular-lanceolate, erect when with fruit. Petals are white, slightly pilose from the outside, oblong-lanceolate, 13-16 mm in length and 2-5 mm in width. The top of the ovary is tomentose. Styles are loose, very short, not protruding from the hypanthium. Fruit are pea-sized, red when young and black with bluish-gray bloom when ripened. Entomophilous. Ornitochore. Blossoms in May, bears fruit starting from late August. 2n=68.

Distribution.

Crimea (rather infrequent), Caucasus (Ante-Caucasus, Eastern and Southern Transcaucasia), Central and Southern Europe, Asia Minor and Northern Africa.

Ecology.

Mesophyte. Photophilous. Grows as single plants on dry southwardly mountainsides, rocks, taluses, forest edges, in light sparse forests and shrub thickets. Elevates up to the middle mountain belt (to 1900 m above sea level in the Caucasus and 600-1100 m in Crimea). Frost and drought resistant plant, undemanding to soil type.

Utilization and economic value.

Food and ornamental. Fruit are sweet, eaten fresh or processed to make jelly, sweet paste, jam, stewed fruit, confiture and high-quality wine. Good stock for pear- and apple-trees. Promising for hybridization.

References:

Brezhnev, D.D. , Korovina, O.N. 1981. Wild relatives of cultivated plants in the flora of the USSR. Leningrad: Kolos, pp. 304. (in Russian).
Poyarkova, A.I. Serviceberry - Amelanchier Medik.// Flora of the USSE. - Moscow/Leningrad: Publishing House of the USSE Academy of Sciences, 1939. - Vol. 9. - P. 408-409.
Sokolov, S.I., Svjaseva, O.A., Kubli, V.A. 1980. Areas of distribution of trees and shrubs in the USSR. vol.2. Leningrad: Nauka, pp.67. (in Russian).

© I.G.Chukhina

 

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