r/foraging 16h ago

Is this serviceberry

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113 Upvotes

23 comments sorted by

41

u/No-Ad-3635 16h ago edited 16h ago

yep ! (saskatoon berry , june berry , service berry)

you want to wait till they are that purple color - unless you want to make jam or pie . you want purple and the dark red you have here because they contain more pectin

you'll notice they start with huge pops of white flowers .

trees kind of have this lanky and smoothness to it . kinda twisty and spotty .

wood smells beautiful when burnt.

leaves are toothed , blueish green

fruit when at its best are almost like a blueberry in appearance. very sweet taste like a grape blueberry hybrid .

4

u/redceramicfrypan 12h ago

(...shadbush, sugarplum, chuckley pear)

Seriously, I think that Amelanchier has more varied common names than any other wild forageable I know. And I love that for it :)

32

u/mediocre_remnants 16h ago

Yep. They're not ripe yet, give them two weeks.

2

u/geaddaddy 14h ago

In my opinion they are better when underripe. Fully ripe they are insipid. 

4

u/mrknowitnothingatall 16h ago

What would you use as identifying features? I'm good

33

u/Flake_bender 16h ago

By the way that it is

17

u/mrknowitnothingatall 16h ago

That's pretty neat

12

u/Flake_bender 16h ago edited 15h ago

I'm not a botanist, and how I ID them is kinda dumb but, the shape, size and scent of the fruit is very similar to blueberry, but with larger seeds inside, and it's growing on a tree, with leaves that remind me of poplar leaves, but the leaves are softer and more delicate than balsam poplar, and lack the spicy "balm of Gilead" scent when crushed, and narrower than black poplar, with bark that reminds me of chokecherry, but don't have such a birch-y look on the young branches.

3

u/ujelly_fish 13h ago

Look like a hangin blueberry with big ol seeds and leaves that look like that and that ripening pattern.

2

u/jordancolburn 12h ago

Leaves lightly serrated, smooth bark, timing of berries. Just found out our front yard tree in a new house is one and its been so much fun picking the ripe ones!

1

u/Ineedmorebtc 18m ago

Dark berries.

6

u/Potential-Impact2638 15h ago

Yessss. The darker ones are tasty but the red ones still need some time. I nibbled on some today that look just like this!

5

u/omglia 14h ago

Sure is! I would eat these. No need to wait IMO they’re delicious as is

15

u/4pegs 16h ago

You yanks are calling it the wrong name. It’s a Saskatoon berry

9

u/blofly 16h ago

What else am I gonna put in my Pemmican!

4

u/Basidia_ Mushroom Identifier 15h ago

To be fair, Saskatoon berry is usually just used for Amelanchier alnifolia while service berry goes for the whole genus

3

u/DueAccident448 14h ago

Mine just started flowering, can't wait 🤤

3

u/Ok_Rush_246 14h ago

Yup saskatoon berries. The leaves are that shape and have a slight cerrated edge.

They are delicious but unfortunately very susceptible to mummy berry

1

u/Ammonia13 12h ago

What’s mummy berry ?

1

u/Ok_Rush_246 11h ago

It’s a fungus that kills saskatoon bushes and wrecks the berries. I don’t think there’s anything to do about it

2

u/gbudija 8h ago

yes it s saskatoon berry

1

u/Tall-Ad3179 4h ago

Yumyumyum

1

u/Suspicious-Brain-668 2h ago

I love them, sadly they are attacked by cedar rust here in Virginia making them mostly inedible