Northline Serviceberry

Amelanchier alnifolia 'Northline'. Compact form, medium shrub with upright oval form becoming spreading with age. Suckers profusely, outer branches arching, making excellent winter-hardy fruiting hedge. Bronze-tinged young oval/circular leaves turn mid-to-dark green in summer, then orange-red and pink-purple in autumn. Five-petaled self-fertile white flowers 2-3cm across appear in spring as leaves unfurl. Multi-stemmed dense upright spreading habit. Selected 1960 Beaverlodge, Alberta. Bears fruit at younger age than other cultivars. Most common commercial variety. 

Good-sized flavorful black berries (smallish blue-purple-black about 10mm diameter when fully ripe). Large, sweet berries. Taste very similar to blueberries but ripen month earlier. Will dry right on bush if not removed by birds. Closely resemble large blueberries. Good for fresh eating, jams, jellies, pies. Sweet even before fully ripe. Fruit large and tasty. Often ripens clusters fairly uniformly, simplifying harvest. Typical harvest early-mid summer (often mid-July). 

Selected 1960 at Beaverlodge, Alberta for superior size and flavor. Shorter cultivar (4-6 feet) far more generous with berries than parent plant. Most common commercial Saskatoon variety due to large late-ripening fruit that all ripens simultaneously, which is valuable trait for harvesting. Good production, bears fruit younger than other cultivars. Medium-sized productive shrub with spreading habit producing many suckers offering choice for rejuvenating plant.