Amelanchier lamarckii
ζ*Amelanchier lamarckii F.-G. Schroeder ζ* is a commonly cultivated ornamental and 2 plants have been found wild on the margin of Dean's Bush at Riccarton, Christchurch. Since this small stand of modified indigenous forest is surrounded by urban Christchurch where the sp. often grows, it was probably spread by birds. A large deciduous shrub or small tree to c. 8 m high, with spreading branches. Lvs deep brown and with dense white hairs beneath when unfolding, glabrous when mature, broadly elliptic-ovate or elliptic, serrulate, turning brilliant red in autumn. Fls few in loose racemes, white; petals 11-14 × 3-5 mm, linear-oblong or narrowly obovate; apex of ovary glabrous. Frs c. 12 mm diam., globose, red, becoming blue-black, covered with white bloom, with thin and sweet flesh, ripening by Dec. Some plants have lvs which are glabrate when unfolding but are otherwise indistinguishable from those with lvs hairy when unfolding. The glabrous plants may represent a different taxon. A. lamarckii is also naturalised in Europe, and N.Z. plants correspond closely to the sp. as it occurs there. In Europe there has been considerable debate as to its correct name, and in both regions it has been treated as A. canadensis (L.) Medikus, A. laevis Wieg., and A. × grandiflora Rehder. The synonomy is set out by Schroeder, F.-G., Taxon 17: 633-634 (1968). (Presumably eastern N. America, 1988).
