Amelanchier interior
Amelanchier gaspensis
amélanchier de l'intérieur, inland serviceberry, Wiegand's shadbush
amélanchier de gaspésie, Gaspé serviceberry, Gaspé shadbush
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 unfolded;
petiole (8–)12.8–20.7(–25) mm;
blade broadly oblong to suborbiculate, (32–)41–57(–63) × (26–)30–40(–45) mm, base cordate or rounded, each margin with (0–)3–9(–12) teeth on proximal 1/2 and 3–5 teeth in distalmost cm, largest teeth more than 1 mm, apex rounded to subtruncate or short-pointed, abaxial surface moderately (sparsely or densely) hairy by flowering, surfaces sparsely hairy (or glabrous) later.
4–12-flowered, 30–75 mm.
(3–)5–10(–12)-flowered, (20–)35–50(–55) mm.
1 or 2 subtended by a leaf, proximalmost 10–45 mm.
1 or 2 subtended by a leaf, proximalmost (9–)12–19(–26) mm.
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 recurved after flowering, (2.6–)3–4.5(–5.9) mm;
petals oblanceolate, (8–)9.7–13.5(–15) × (3–)4.1–6.2(–7) mm;
stamens (17–)18–20(–21);
styles (4 or)5, (2.3–)2.6–3.5(–4.1) mm;
ovary apex densely hairy.
purple-black, 6–8 mm diam. 2n = 4x.
blackish purple, 10 mm diam. 2n = 4x.
Amelanchier interior
Amelanchier gaspensis
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.)
K. M. Wiegand (1912) considered Amelanchier gaspensis to be perplexing because it varies much in stature and habit, as well as in leaf outline and dentition. The leaves suggest an intermediate condition between A. sanguinea and A. humilis, especially in the venation.
G. N. Jones (1946) considered the range of Amelanchier gaspensis to extend off the Gaspé Peninsula in Quebec and into Ontario and Michigan; he listed 13 specimens away from the Gaspé, and uncertainty exists about the identity of some of these specimens. For some specimens, Jones first annotated them as A. spicata and later changed his annotation to A. gaspensis. Wiegand annotated one of the specimens as “A. humilis x?,” another specimen as “A. humilis,” and another as “A. florida” (A. alnifolia var. semiintegrifolia). E. G. Voss (1972–1996, vol. 2) included A. gaspensis in A. sanguinea. M. L. Fernald (1950) reported A. gaspensis from northern Maine; specimens from there assigned to A. gaspensis do not match it in all respects. The occurrence of A. gaspensis away from the Gaspé remains questionable.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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