Serviceberries

[Barbara]

The young farmers who are running their Tree and Leaf Farm stand at Wheatland Farm's stall this year had some wild serviceberries for sale. I had thought they were found only in Alaska and the Yukon Territories, but there is a Virginia varietal. It looks something like a large blueberry, but has larger seeds and a different flavor than wild blueberries. I bought some just to satisfy my curiosity, but I've not decided what to do with them yet.

Perhaps these are known as "Huckleberries" around these parts. Certainly sounds like it, from your description.

[zoramargolis]

Perhaps these are known as "Huckleberries" around these parts. Certainly sounds like it, from your description.

I wondered that, too. But the farmer said they were called serviceberries. Maybe they are, in fact, two different names for the same berries.

[porcupine]

I wondered that, too. But the farmer said they were called serviceberries. Maybe they are, in fact, two different names for the same berries.

Nope. Serviceberry, aka shadbush or shadblow (because it blooms when the shad are running), is a small tree, Amelanchier arborea, in the rose family (Rosaceae), as are a lot of other foodstuffs, as discussed recently in another thread. Blueberries and huckleberries are in the heath and heather family, Ericaceae, (so are azalea and rhododendron). As far as I know, the only other edible food from the Ericaceae is the honey made from sourwood, an absolutley gorgeous native tree that grows in the higher elevations of the mid- and southern Atlantic piedmont.