Amelanchier spicata ‘Regent’- Running or Dwarf Juneberry

A small, suckering shrub that is covered with large, white, fragrant flowers in early Spring. Dark blue fruits follow that birds love – over 42 species eat the fruit! The fruit is also good for eating out of hand and for jellies. Native Americans used Serviceberry fruit in making Pemican, a staple of their diet. This shrub is one of the best choices for an edible hedgerow – it’s the shrub growing along the zigzag fence adjacent to the driveway to our lower parking area.

We’re not entirely sure which species of Amelanchier this is. It’s often listed as A. alnifolia, from which it seems to be quite different. We’ve also seen genetic evidence from an old Masters Thesis that ‘Regent’ is a cultivar of A. stolonifera, to which it indeed seems to be quite similar. Surprisingly, we’ve never run the plant through a botanical key to try to identify it. We’re going to do that here in 2024 to see what we come up with. Juneberries also hybridize extensively so it could be a hybrid and an attempt to identify it using a key will end up being an exercise in frustration – we’ll report back if/when we have an answer.

2024 botanical key result – ‘Regent’ is indeed a variety of A. stolonifera. However, that name is now considered synonymous with A. spicata. Juneberry systematics and nomenclature is a bit of a mess!