DCHP-1 Online

serviceberry † 

• 1 n. any of several bushes or shrubby trees of the genus Amelanchier.

  See also: Indian pear (def. 2)  juneberry (def. 1)  poire (def. 2)  saskatoon bush  shadbush  

  • 1793  (1801)  [The trees are spruce . . . service tree, bois-picant, &c. . . .]
  • 1860  (1956)  . . . the English call it "service berry". . . .
  • 1917  (1956)  The serviceberries, also known as juneberries, shad-bushes, and, in the West, the Saskatoons, are deciduous species with simple alternate leaves and slender unarmed twigs.

• 2 n. the fruit of any of these plants.

  See also: Indian pear (def. 1)  juneberry (def. 2)  pear  poire (def. 1)  saskatoon berry (def. 1)  shad berry  Siwash berry  

  • 1853  The berries have received different names in different parts of America. They are known as "shadberries," "June-berries," "service-berries," and by the Canadian voyageurs they are called "le poire."
  • 1879  The best form of pemmican, made for table use, generally has added to it ten pounds of sugar per bag, and saskatoon or service berries. . . .
  • 1964  For variety sometimes dried fruits such as chokecherries, saskatoon or service berries might be added.