Flora of North America species comparison

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Amelanchier interior

Amelanchier fernaldii

amélanchier de l'intérieur, inland serviceberry, Wiegand's shadbush

amélanchier de Fernald, Fernald's shadbush
Habit Shrubs or trees, 1–10 m. Stems 1–10, forming colonies or solitary. Shrubs, 0.5–1 m, rhizomatous.
Stems

1–50, usually forming colonies.
Leaves

not fully unfolded;

petiole 10–30 mm;

blade broadly ovate to elliptic, 30–70 × 20–50 mm, base rounded to subcordate, each margin with 3–15 teeth on proximal 1/2 and (2–)4 or 5(–7) teeth in distalmost cm, largest teeth less than 1 mm, apex short acuminate to apiculate, abaxial surface glabrous or sparsely hairy by flowering, surfaces glabrous later.

mostly or fully unfolded;

petiole 1–25 mm;

blade elliptic-oblong to oblong-obovate, 50–80 × 15–45 mm, base rounded to subcordate, each margin with 4–18 teeth on proximal 1/2 and 5–10 teeth in distalmost cm, largest teeth less than 1 mm, apex subacute to rounded or mucronate, abaxial surface glabrous (or sparsely hairy) by flowering, surfaces glabrous later.
Inflorescences

4–12-flowered, 30–75 mm.

3–8-flowered, 20–40 mm.
Pedicels

1 or 2 subtended by a leaf, proximalmost 10–45 mm.

usually 1 subtended by a leaf, proximalmost 15–35 mm.
Flowers

sepals recurved after flowering, 2–5 mm;

petals obovate, 6–15 × 4–5 mm;

stamens 20;

styles 5, 3–5 mm;

ovary apex densely (moderately) hairy (or glabrous).

sepals ascending or spreading after flowering, 3–5 mm;

petals oval to broadly oblanceolate, 8–15 × 3–6 mm;

stamens 20;

styles 5, length unknown;

ovary apex densely hairy.
Pomes

purple-black, 6–8 mm diam. 2n = 4x.

dark purple or almost black, 6–10 mm diam.

Amelanchier interior

Amelanchier fernaldii
Phenology Flowering May–Jun; fruiting Jul–Aug. Flowering Jun–Jul; fruiting Jul–Aug.
Habitat Dry woods, bluffs rocky areas and slopes, stream banks, fields, thickets, and sandy areas, sometimes wetlands Ravines, thickets, barrens, rocky banks, shores, sea cliffs, swamps, wet woods, often calcareous
Elevation 0–300 m (0–1000 ft) 0–100 m (0–300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
IA; IL; MI; MN; OH; SD; WI; NB; NF; NS; ON; PE; QC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
NB; NF; NS; PE; QC
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Amelanchier interior is distinguished by its capacity to grow into a tree to ten meters and by having sparsely hairy young leaves that are often reddish and densely hairy ovary apices. E. L. Nielsen (1939) differentiated A. interior and A. wiegandii on the basis of leaves being carinate in A. wiegandii as opposed to flat in A. interior, and leaf sinuses rounded versus acute. G. N. Jones (1946) considered those differences to be slight, and he included A. wiegandii in A. interior. The authors follow Jones, but retain the common name Wiegand’s shadbush to commemorate Wiegand’s early insights about the taxonomy of Amelanchier. M. L. Fernald (1950) considered A. wiegandii as suggesting a small-leaved A. laevis but with shorter buds, fewer teeth, fewer veins, and summit of ovary heavily tomentose. P. Landry (1975) thought A. wiegandii to be the hybrid of A. arborea and A. sanguinea, and E. G. Voss (1972–1996, vol. 2) reasoned that A. interior is a hybrid swarm involving A. laevis (or sometimes A. arborea) and plants of the A. spicata and/or A. sanguinea complex. A hybrid origin of A. interior from A. laevis and A. sanguinea is reasonable given that stem height, the number of leaf teeth, and petal length are more or less intermediate between those two species. DNA sequences from ITS region indicate that A. interior (A. wiegandii) is a possible later-generation hybrid involving a member of the western North American ITS clade (which also includes A. humilis and A. sanguinea of eastern North America) and some eastern North American taxon (C. S. Campbell et al. 1997). Multiple hybrid origins, possibly from different species, may explain the variability of A. interior. Amelanchier interior has unusually large ranges of lengths for proximal pedicels, sepals, and petals. The leaves of A. wiegandii were described by Nielsen as bronze at flowering; Jones described the leaves of A. interior as green when young. The authors assume that A. interior as they interpret it is polymorphic for the color of young leaves.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

The rhizomatous habit, leaves that are glabrous upon expanding, and densely hairy ovary apices in Amelanchier fernaldii are a distinctive combination of characteristics. Its relationships to congeners are unclear. Access to flowering material clearly assignable to A. fernaldii has not been available, and the size of floral parts was taken from M. L. Fernald (1950).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 9, p. 655. FNA vol. 9, p. 655.
Parent taxa Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Maleae > Amelanchier Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Maleae > Amelanchier
Sibling taxa
A. alnifolia, A. amabilis, A. arborea, A. bartramiana, A. canadensis, A. cusickii, A. fernaldii, A. gaspensis, A. humilis, A. intermedia, A. laevis, A. nantucketensis, A. nitens, A. pallida, A. sanguinea, A. spicata, A. utahensis
A. alnifolia, A. amabilis, A. arborea, A. bartramiana, A. canadensis, A. cusickii, A. gaspensis, A. humilis, A. interior, A. intermedia, A. laevis, A. nantucketensis, A. nitens, A. pallida, A. sanguinea, A. spicata, A. utahensis
Synonyms A. wiegandii
Name authority E. L. Nielsen: Amer. Midl. Naturalist 22: 185, plate 13. (1939) Wiegand: Rhodora 22: 149. (1920)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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