Saskatoon Berry
Amelanchier alnifolia
Hosts 1 caterpillarBird foodPollinator plant

(c) Sam Kieschnick, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Sam Kieschnick
Growing it
| When | Flowers May to June; fruits July to August |
|---|---|
| Type | shrub |
| Sun | Full sun, partial shade |
| Water | Low, medium |
| Soil | pH 5.5–7.5 |
| Hardiness | zone 2–7 |
| Mature height | 4 m |
| Mature spread | 3.75 m |
| Spacing | 2.5 m |
| Years to maturity | 5 |
| Bloom | May–Jun |
| Flower colour | White read from a published flora |
| In bloom | May June |
| Fruit | Jul–Aug |
| Native to | AB, SK |
spoon-shaped leaves about 5 cm long; several stems from the base
Where it has been recorded
Which ecoregions the records fall in
- Fescue Grassland south AB: 1470 records, high confidence
- Aspen Parkland central AB / SK: 1023 records, high confidence
- Moist Mixed Grassland south AB / SK: 336 records, high confidence
- Northern Continental Divide south AB: 309 records, high confidence
- Mixed Grassland south AB / SK: 223 records, high confidence
- Boreal Transition central AB / SK: 158 records, high confidence
- Cypress Upland south AB / SK: 111 records, high confidence
- Eastern Continental Ranges central AB: 75 records, high confidence
- Peace Lowland north AB: 67 records, high confidence
- Mid-Boreal Uplands central AB / SK: 61 records, high confidence
- Western Alberta Upland central AB: 57 records, high confidence
- Wabasca Lowland north AB: 22 records, high confidence
- Slave River Lowland north AB: 17 records, medium confidence
- Churchill River Upland north SK: 5 records, low confidence
- Tazin Lake Upland north AB / SK: 3 records, low confidence
- Western Boreal central AB: 3 records, low confidence
These are counts of records collected somewhere in the region, which is the resolution of the evidence: the map above shows where inside it. A region with 3 records is not the same claim as one with three hundred, so the count travels with the region. A region missing from this list means nobody has recorded it there, which is not the same as the plant being absent. Records within 900 m of a border count for neither side, because the border is not drawn finely enough to say which one they are on. Source: GBIF occurrence search + PRESERVED_SPECIMEN pass, retrieved 2026-08-24. Boundaries digitised from the National Ecological Framework for Canada v2.2 (Ecological Stratification Working Group 1995), simplified to about 900 m for display: an outline is accurate to roughly a kilometre, not to the metre. How these counts are made.
See every observation, live and current, on GBIF or iNaturalist.
Documented animals
26 documented relationships.
nectar for
- Andrena candida Specimen records from ecdysis.org
- Andrena milwaukeensis Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Andrena prunorum Specimen records from ecdysis.org
- Anise Swallowtail Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Blue Orchard Mason Bee Packer
- Calligrapher Fly Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Corythucha cydoniae Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Erebia discoidalis Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Indiscriminate Cuckoo Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
- Meadow Fritillary Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Megachile melanophaea Specimen records from ecdysis.org
- Orange-banded Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
- Orange-legged Furrow Bee Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Red-belted Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
pollen for
- Andrena prunorum Guzman et al. 2022
- Andrena salicifloris Guzman et al. 2022
- Central Bumble Bee Guzman et al. 2022
- Lucilia illustris Guzman et al. 2022
- Mason Bees Wilson & Carril 2015
- Nevada Bumble Bee Guzman et al. 2022
fruit for
- American Robin Cornell Lab of Ornithology
- Bohemian Waxwing Cornell Lab of Ornithology
- Cedar Waxwing Cornell Lab of Ornithology
- Pine Grosbeak Cornell Lab of Ornithology
- Ruffed Grouse Cornell Lab of Ornithology
caterpillar host for
- Polyphemus Moth Pohl et al. 2018
Also worth knowing
Safety
Toxicity not assessed, absence of a warning is not a guarantee of safety
Edible parts
Fruit
Buying it
About $25–$50 per plant (estimate), sometimes in big-box garden sections. Estimate (shrub default); AB retail as of 2026
Where these numbers came from
- Flower detail: not verified, a genus-level estimate