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.
Open sheet →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.