Serviceberry

American Indians used 2874...species as medicines, 186 as foods, 230 as dyes, and 492...for weaving, basketmaking, building materials, and so on. Source:Moerhman, 1998:11.

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On apprising the chief of this circumstance, he said that he had nothing but berries to eat, and presented some cakes made of serviceberry and chokecherries which had been dried in the sun. On these Captain Lewis made a hearty meal, and then walked down towards the river. From Source:Lewis, Clark, and Hosmer, 1903:391

There are numerous species, mostly in the genus Amelanchier, that go by the common name of "Serviceberry". The species that would have been encountered in southwest Virginia is probably Amelanchier arborea, though other species such as Amelanchier laevis probably occur there as well. The Serviceberry flowers in the early spring, and folklore derivations of the name "Serviceberry" are often associated with the resumption of religious services. For example, the reappearance of circuit riding preachers, or according to some versions, "when the ground was warm enough to dig to make graves". The wikipedia gives a more etymological derivation, associating it with the "Sorbus", a european variation of the species.

As the quotation above (from the history of the Lewis and Clark Expedition) attests, the fruit of the serviceberry was used for food. Source:Moerhman, 1998:68 describes its nuse by the Cherokee and other tribes, as an antihelmintic, antidiahreal, and tonic.

Moerman, Daniel E. 1998. Native American ethnobotany. Portland, Or: Timber Press.

See: USDA Plants database]