Amelanchier alnifolia, Western Serviceberry

Western Serviceberry is a common deciduous native shrub or small multi-trunked tree often found growing along seasonal streams. Serviceberry has year-round interest, with showy apple-like white flowers that appear in spring, edible blueberry-tasting fruits in the summer, yellow fall foliage, and bare branches in the winter. The white spring flowers are followed by dark blue-purple fruits coveted by birds.

It is fairly easy to grow in soil with excellent drainage, though it prefers loam or sandy loam. In its natural range, at higher elevations, it prefers full sun, needing little or no watering in summer, and is fast growing and long lived, reaching 6 feet in 3 to 6 years and lasting about 60 years. In an irrigated garden, it can get 15 x 15 ft. It prefers part shade and may be short lived.

Western Serviceberry typically is a rounded shrubby form, though it can grow more upright, especially in shady areas. Prune to an open form in order to increase light and air flow through the plant and reduce the chance of disease. Many butterflies use this species as a larval host, such as the California hairstreak and the Ceanothus silkmoth.