Wood: Amelanchier wood is heavy, hard and close-grained, but unimportant because trees are seldom large enough to be used for wood.
Wildlife: At least 22 species of birds eat the fruit and 11 species of mammals either eat the fruit or browse the foliage. The shadblow (A. canadensis) fruit is eaten by thrushes and songbirds in early summer. Chipmunks, squirrels and even bears eat serviceberry fruit, and mule deer browse the foliage and twigs of western species. The fruit is tasty in pies and confections, being a little more tart than blueberries. The Cree people of Canada mixed dried berries with dried, pounded meat to form a small, long-lasting cake of food called pemmican.
Horticulture: Serviceberries are deciduous shrubs or small trees with a narrow, irregular crown and slender branches. Determining the species of serviceberries is extremely difficult and nursery stock is often incorrectly named. The serviceberry is a valuable native plant offering a splendid spring show with its elongated, showy clusters of dainty white, five-petalled flowers. Most have an excellent yellow-gold or red-orange fall color and the tasty fruits attract birds. Amelanchiers make elegant specimen trees and are also effective planted in groups in naturalized settings.
