Native to the eastern United States, the Allegheny service berry prefers thickets with dry to moist soil at the forest edge. Beauty in two seasons, it is a slender small tree with spring flowering and autumn colour. The flowers are white 5-petalled in drooping clusters, while in autumn the leaves take on shades of warm orange.
In garden use it is decorative and requires little care. It is one of the finest species planted on Mustila’s Etelärinne (Southern slope) when it flowers in May, with the white flowers framed by the newly opening, transparent copper-coloured leaves. The fruit, ripening in August, are dark blue, juicy, sweet berries popular with Arboretum staff and also with local birds. Despite this, it has not regenerated naturally in many places.
