# ID needed for a shrub (no pictures)



## Guest (Mar 23, 2008)

Sorry for no pics. I need to identify a shrub that has tiny hard bluish-black berries that are in clumps resembling bunches of grapes. The chickens are eating the berries and I wonder if they're safe.


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## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

could it be one of the fringe trees?


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## Guest (Mar 23, 2008)

The pictures above don't look like it. I found this picture in which the berries are the same size, color, shape, and the clumping pattern is similar, but the leaves are much smaller and narrow.


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## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=27

chionanthus virginicus?


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## Guest (Mar 23, 2008)

MELOC said:


> http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=27
> 
> chionanthus virginicus?


Similar, but I didn't notice downiness on the twigs. I'll go take a better look.


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## mistletoad (Apr 17, 2003)

The picture looks like arrowood viburnum. We have it wild here and the chickens love it - they will jump straight up to get at the berries. But there are literally hundreds of varieties of viburnum so it could be another closely related one you have.


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## Guest (Mar 23, 2008)

mistletoad said:


> The picture looks like arrowood viburnum.


That's what the picture is, but the leaves are completely different.


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## mistletoad (Apr 17, 2003)

Can you describe the leaves?


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## Guest (Mar 24, 2008)

The leaves are narrow, smooth, elliptical, and the biggest ones are about 1 1/2 inches long.


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## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

ok...i'm putting $5 monopoly money on my guess.


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## Guest (Mar 24, 2008)

I forgot about some pics I took last April. They aren't close up but maybe you can see enough to tell something.

There's one right next to this bridal wreath:










There's a row of them in the background here:


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## mistletoad (Apr 17, 2003)

LOL Meloc. Yes, your leaves fit, but I don't think the berries look at all the same.

I'm going to put my monopoly money on one of the evergreen viburnums (I'm assuming this is evergreen if you still have berries on it). Maybe Viburnum tinus or Viburnum davidii.


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## Guest (Mar 24, 2008)

mistletoad said:


> I'm going to put my monopoly money on one of the evergreen viburnums (I'm assuming this is evergreen if you still have berries on it). Maybe Viburnum tinus or Viburnum davidii.


Yes, evergreen. I googled pics of Viburnum tinus and Viburnum davidii and I think it must be one of those.

So.... are the berries safe for chickens?


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## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

darn...now i gotta mortgage park place.


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## mistletoad (Apr 17, 2003)

You had Park Place? What kind of homesteader are you? lol

I think the viburnums are bird safe. Wild birds eat them and chickens seem to avoid things that would not be good for them (excepting styrofoam).


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## Wildcrofthollow (Apr 20, 2005)

To the best of my knowledge, none of the viburnums are poisonous, even to humans. I am SURE that none that grow in VA are. The southern arrowwood (also called southern wild raisin) which you pictured has edible berries, others that grow around here are nannyberry, black haw, maple leaf viburnum and some others. The best time to eat them (the berries) is in the fall, usually after a frost, they are sweeter then. I surely wouldn't worry about the chickens eating them.


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## Gailann Schrader (May 10, 2002)

the leaves look like currant leaves - ribes.

Maybe a black currant?

I Googled black currant and it sure looks like it...

Wonderful stuff...


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## shiningpath (Mar 27, 2008)

My first guess was a Gallberry bush, but I don't know if those grow in OK.
Deer eat the berries, as do many birds and animals, so I'll bet they're safe for chickens:

Gallberry


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## chris30523 (Jun 11, 2005)

We have privet here .It has clumps of blue black berries like grapes and small leaves. It is a ligustrum and when it blooms it has white flowers in clusters like lilac.Birds love the berries.


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## jedsmom (Aug 15, 2007)

I was going to bet on Ligustrum sp. also--- might be worth a check if you are really interested. In the southeast it is an invasive shrub. Privets (Ligustrum sp.) do, however, have a very high fat content...similar to our own native dogwood berries (not in appearance in nutritive value) and are highly attractive and edible to many birds....one of the reasons it is so prolific in its reproduction.


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## Ravenlost (Jul 20, 2004)

rose2005 said:


> Could it be a blackcurrant bush?


Ummm...Rose2005? That looks like a blueberry bush, not a black currant. The black currant has serrated leaves:










Here's a couple links to black currants:

http://www.borealforest.org/shrubs/shrub36.htm

http://www.cmste.uregina.ca/valley/flora/northern_black_current.html


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## Missy M (Mar 2, 2007)

Elderberry?


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