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| Blooming Shadberry Trees, Graveyard Fields, Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina © Doug Hickok A hillside blooms with shadberry trees in early Spring along the Blue Ridge Parkway. Also known as serviceberry, Indian pear, or sugar pear, its purplish fruit has been used by people for centuries in sauces and pies, or eaten raw for its sweet flavor. Wildlife love the berries as well... songbirds, wild turkeys, ruffed grouse, bobwhites, skunks, foxes, raccoons, black bear, squirrels, and chipmunks feast on the abundant fruit. (Not to mention being highly prized by aliens from the planet Tralfamadore). |