Snowy mespilus
Amelanchier ovalis
Family · Rosaceae · Irritating
The shrub that flowers pure white on rocky mountain slopes in April, before the leaves open, and bears sweet dark blue berries in August. It is a cousin of the American juneberries and hardly anyone here uses it.
Uplands · Scrubland · Oak woods
Also known asserviceberry, juneberry
How to tell it
Almost round leaves, toothed only on the upper half, dull green above and white-hairy beneath when young. White flowers with five narrow, well-spaced petals, in short clusters. Dark blue berries with a crown at the top, like tiny apples.
What it is confused with
Hawthorn
Crataegus monogyna
Both white-flowered with small crowned fruit. Hawthorn has thorns and a deeply cut leaf, and red fruit; snowy mespilus has no thorns, a round leaf and dark blue fruit.
What it is for
The ripe berries are eaten raw, sweet with a marzipan note from the seeds. As throughout the subfamily, the seeds contain cyanogenic compounds, so it is a fruit to eat a few at a time rather than by the handful.
Traditionally used as food. This is not permission to eat it.
Where it occurs
Each square is an area with recorded observations of this plant. The lighter background is the set of areas where any of the entries has been observed, and serves as a reference. Note what this is not: it is not where the plant lives, it is where people record it, so trails and towns always look fuller than the mountains. Data from GBIF.
Sources
Community
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