Amelanchier Has Produced Two Kinds Of Fruit.

Question

I have a small amelanchier – app. 7ft tall – which every year produces a few small bunches of berries. This year in addition I had 7 different fruits – very like green cherries, which have gradually ripened through yellow to orange to red. They don’t taste like cherries – more like plums. They have appeared only on one branch. Any idea what is going on?

Answer 1

It is likely your fruit tree was grafted and the rootstalk was allowed to grow a branch and has fruited. Does the branch have slightly different leaves than the normal branches? Or perhaps it is thorny.

Most fruit trees are grafted, whereas a desirable fruit canopy is grafted onto a different rootstalk that may make the tree grow faster, achieve a certain height, or make it cold hardy. That is why it is important to remove any suckers that emerge from below the graft union. If allowed to grow, they can take over the tree and the desirable "top" may die out. You need to cut out the odd branch as it is likely from the rootstalk.

Amelanchiers were often grafted in the past, but newer methods of cultivation have decreased the need for grafting.

Here is more:

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/trees/tgen/tree-sucker-removal-and-tree-sucker-control.htm

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/propagation/grafting/rootstock-information.htm

https://jcra.ncsu.edu/horticulture/plant-profiles/details.php?ID=35