Berry Tempting

My field guides did not have any information on this plant, so I had to depend on the Internet. The search phrase “tree with speckled red berries” brought up results for autumn olive, and I believe that’s what this shrub is. Here are several websites that mention it: one, two, three, and four. The last of the four has a good picture of the flowers. The flowers make me even more sure of the identification. I have definitely seen their kind before. If my media server were working right now, I’m sure that I could find my own pictures of autumn olive flowers from a few years ago.

It’s unfortunate that autumn olive is considered to be an invasive plant, but I figure all plants are, if given the chance. So are people, when you think about it. Everything wants to live and grow to the greatest extent it can.

Autumn olive berries are said to be edible, and they certainly do look tempting. I’m naturally cautious, though, and I would want to be extra careful when foraging in this area. Mixed in among the shrubs that appeared to be autumn olive were other berrying shrubs and vines, some of which I know to be poisonous. I read somewhere that if you don’t know what you’re doing, never eat a red berry that you find in the woods, because the odds of it being poisonous are high. Happy thought. But I suppose I’ll get better at identifying plants, and more confident about it, as I continue, and I’ll work up the courage to sample the edible types of berries someday.