Japanese name: アメリカザイフリボク Scientific name:Amelanchier canadensis
[Overview]
An upright deciduous shrub 2–8 m tall with a broom-shaped crown.
The leaves are simple, alternate and toothed; at first they are densely covered with white cottony hairs, but soon become hairless except for the midrib and petiole.
An upright raceme up to 6 cm long emerges at the tip of a branch bearing leaves that have not yet fully matured.
The flowers are white with 5 narrow petals.
There are about 20 stamens, and the 5 styles are fused at the base.
The fruit ripens to purplish black in early summer, with the calyx lobes remaining like a crown, and its surface is covered with a white bloom.
The fruit is juicy and sweet, and edible.
It is sometimes confused with the related Amelanchier arborea, but the latter has hardly any leaves expanded at flowering, its inflorescence hangs down, and its fruit is not juicy and is said to be tasteless.
[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed, cuttings or layering.
In its native range it grows in wetlands and lowlands, and it is not particular about soil in cultivation.
