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Saskatoon Berries
A forager's delight
Also Known as Service Berries or June Berries
The Saskatoon berry is a major player in Northwestern Survival..
Saskatoon Habitat
Amelanchier alnifolia, the Saskatoon, Saskatoon berry, serviceberry, sarvisberry
or juneberry is a shrub with edible berry-like fruit, native to North America.
The Saskatoon berry spreads from Alaska then across most of western Canada. It
is also found all over the western and northern central parts of the United
States. It is found across a range of elevations, from sea level up to 3,500
meters (10,000').
About Saskatoon Berries
The Saskatoon berry is a deciduous plant and loses its leaves in the
fall , however before it does it produces an exceptional fruit that is easily
picked and can be eaten straight from the bush.. The leaves are round to oval,
and may have a slight serration along their edges (mostly above the middle of
the leaf), and are anywhere between 1 to 2 inches long.
It blooms beautifully, with large white flowers 2–3 cm (0.8–1.2 in)
across; they appear on racemes of 3–20 together the new leaves are still
expanding. in the early spring. Recognizing this shrub even before it bears
fruit, will allow you to plan to harvest the fruit anywhere from June thru
August depending upon you location.
It is a deciduous shrub or small tree that can grow to 1–8 m (3–26 ft)
(rarely to 10 m, 33 ft) in height. Its growth form spans from suckering and
forming a clumped colony of stems.
The fruit is a small purple pome or berry, 5–15 mm (0.2–0.6 in) in diameter,
ripening in early summer in the coastal areas and late summer further inland.
The indigenous people of Canada eat the berry fresh, dried or in preparations
(including pies and jams). It is the berry most commonly added to pemmican,
(derived from the native Cree language) or dried meat sometimes called jerky.
The berries add a preservative quality to the pemmican, which was commonly
buried in a "cache" for months and then dug up when needed, or when passing that
way again by migrating tribes.
Saskatoon berries contain significant Daily Value amounts of total dietary
fiber, vitamins B2 (riboflavin) and biotin, and the essential minerals, iron and
manganese, and are similar in to the nutrients found blueberries.
Saskatoon berries may be beneficial as an inhibitor of cyclo-oxygenase enzymes
which are involved in the mechanisms of inflammation and pain, so it may do well
to pick and eat these fruits while hiking, to not only stave off hunger, and to
supply your body with nutrients you would have to pay big bucks for, but also to
help combat a hikers constant concern, "swelling" or inflammation, not to
mention pain.
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