Flora of North America species comparison

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Amelanchier interior

Amelanchier intermedia

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

amélanchier intermédiaire, intermediate serviceberry, intermediate shadbush
Habit Shrubs or trees, 1–10 m. Stems 1–10, forming colonies or solitary. Shrubs or trees, 2–7 m. Stems 1–50, fastigiate, solitary or in 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.

half-unfolded;

petiole (14–)16–21.8(–24) mm;

blade elliptic to slightly obovate, (39–)46–65(–77) × (25–)26–38(–45) mm, base subcordate or rounded, each margin with (5–)13–19(–20) teeth on proximal 1/2 and (5–)13–19(–20) teeth in distalmost cm, largest teeth less than 1 mm, apex acute to short-acuminate, abaxial surface sparsely hairy by flowering, surfaces glabrous later.
Inflorescences

4–12-flowered, 30–75 mm.

(6 or)7–10-flowered, 35–59(–77) mm.
Pedicels

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

0 or 1 subtended by a leaf, proximalmost (13–)14–25(–33) 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 to recurved after flowering, (2–)3.3–4.5(–5.2) mm;

petals oblong, (10–)12.7–17.7(–18.5) × (3–)3.9–5.3(–5.7) mm;

stamens (18–)20(–21);

styles (4 or)5, (3.3–)3.8–4.8(–5) mm;

ovary apex glabrous (or sparsely hairy).
Pomes

purple-black, 6–8 mm diam. 2n = 4x.

dark purple, 7–12 mm diam. 2n = 4x.

Amelanchier interior

Amelanchier intermedia
Phenology Flowering May–Jun; fruiting Jul–Aug. Flowering May–Jun; fruiting Jun–Aug.
Habitat Dry woods, bluffs rocky areas and slopes, stream banks, fields, thickets, and sandy areas, sometimes wetlands Swamps, bogs, thickets, shores
Elevation 0–300 m (0–1000 ft) 0–1000 m (0–3300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
IA; IL; MI; MN; OH; SD; WI; NB; NF; NS; ON; PE; QC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CT; MD; ME; MI; MN; NC; NH; NJ; NY; PA; SC; VA; VT; NB; NF; NS; ON; 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.)

Amelanchier intermedia is morphologically closest to A. laevis. In a study of morphologic variation involving A. canadensis, A. intermedia, A. laevis, and other species of Amelanchier, A. C. Dibble et al. (1998) found that the only two species that overlap are A. intermedia and A. laevis. P. Landry (1975) considered A. intermedia to be the hybrid of A. arborea (including A. laevis) and A. canadensis, and the authors have data that suggest A. intermedia is a hybrid of A. canadensis and A. laevis.

Amelanchier intermedia hybridizes with A. bartramiana, A. humilis, and A. spicata (L. Cinq-Mars 1971).

A. C. Dibble et al. (1998) reported that two individuals of Amelanchier intermedia, both tetraploids, were apomictic.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 9, p. 655. FNA vol. 9, p. 660.
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. fernaldii, A. gaspensis, A. humilis, A. interior, 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) Spach: Hist. Nat. Vég. 2: 85. (1834)
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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