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<br />Sometimes tuber s[arwor[ is rather heavily grazed by sheep and cattle, but such <br />extreme use is associated with overgrazing and other abnormal conditions. The <br />amount of forage produced per plan[ is small despite that [his is one of the <br />largest plants in [he genus. The tuberous rootstocks are edible and, when fresh <br />and fleshy, are quite palatable. These rootstocks enable the species to propa- <br />gate vegetatively, as well as from seed. <br />Shrubs <br />Amelanchier alnifolia <br />(Common Serviceberry) <br />Common Serviceberry, without a doubt, is the most widely distributed and best <br />known of the 19 or more species of Amelanchier occurring in the West. Locally, <br />and perhaps rather generally, i[ may be known as Saskatoon, alderleaf sarvis- <br />berry, western Serviceberry, western Juneberry, or pigeonberry. It is a low <br />shrub, from 3 to 15 feet in height, or else a small tree up to 20 or more feet <br />• tall, with dark grayish [wigs and usually dark green foliage. The leaves are <br />generally elliptic or rounded, distinctly toothed above the middle, hairless on <br />[he upper side and short-woolly underneath when young, but becoming hairless in <br />age. However, the species is variable, and its exact delimitation has not been <br />determined, especially with reference to [he closely related and very similar <br />Pacific Serviceberry (A. florida). <br />The wide distribution of common Serviceberry is largely due to its unusual abi- <br />lity to grow under a great variety of environmental conditions. It is found on <br />dry, rocky slopes in the full sunlight or in [he partial shade of coniferous tim- <br />ber; it also occurs on moist deep and fertile soils frequently forming an under- <br />brush in aspen and lodgepole pine. It is probably most common in the upper <br />limits of the ponderosa-pine belt, but it occurs from near sea level in Washing- <br />ton and northward to over 9,000 feet in Che Sierras and Rockies. Sometimes Chis <br />species is locally abundant, but it generally appears more or less scattered <br />along with such other shrubs as manzanita, thimbleberry, Gambel oak, and cher- <br />ries. In the shrub form, common Serviceberry is a low, many-stemmed plant, often <br />;~ having a spread of 6 fee[, or more. Under favorable conditions, however, the <br />•~ young plants may be sparsely stemaned and soon assume a tree ,habit of growth. In <br />2-86 <br />