smooth shadbush

Amelanchier laevis has stems of 1–15 metres (3 ft 3 in – 49 ft 3 in) or 2–17 metres (6 ft 7 in – 55 ft 9 in) which grow in small clumps. Its petioles are 12–25 millimetres (0.47–0.98 in) with green blades which are elliptic and almost ovate. The leaves have 12–17 lateral veins and 6-8 teeth per cm. The white blossoms, which can be spectacular in mature specimens, develop from pink buds in spring. The fruit, which are pomes, ripen in autumn. They are edible and can be eaten raw or cooked. The fruit has a sweet flavor. The bark can be made into a herbal medicine for expectant mothers. It is a deciduous tree hardy in zones 4 to 8. It is cultivated as an ornamental shrub. The cultivar 'R.J. Hilton', with richer spring and autumn leaf color than the species, has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.