# Are these berries "wild currants"?



## debbiebofjc (Jun 11, 2006)

A friend said these are wild currants, but I want to verify that before I do anything with them. I have a lot of them growing along a fence row.
I am in the middle of Missouri.
http://s405.photobucket.com/albums/pp136/debbiebofjc/

Thanks!
Debbie B


----------



## debbiebofjc (Jun 11, 2006)

That's not right, here is the picture:


----------



## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

i think not. i think the leaves are all wrong.


----------



## Lisa in WA (Oct 11, 2004)

Bush Honeysuckles or Carolina Buckthorn?


----------



## Nature_Lover (Feb 6, 2005)

Good picture, Debbie!
I think I have these in east central Missouri. 
It's an understory tree, some are about fifteen feet but most are six to ten feet high. They spread really wide, not very dense, and have far reaching branches. Growing under cedars along the edge of my glade and more sparsely in my maple/oak forest.
When I first saw it I thought it might be a type of holly with the shiny, waxy leaves. Mine aren't ripe yet. Immature berries are yellow, and ripe berries are only about 1/2 inch max.
Does that sound like yours, Debbie?

I'll look up the buckthorn, thanks Lisa!


----------



## debbiebofjc (Jun 11, 2006)

They do look kind of like some kind of holly don't they?
My friend swore they were good for jelly, etc. I'm not convinced.
I ate one (she ate a few). The berry tasted ok, but left a sort of fuzzy feeling on my tongue. I didn't get sick.
I might try the Dept of Conservation or University Extension and see what they say.
I have a lot of them.


----------



## Allen W (Aug 2, 2008)

They are not currants, the leaves are wrong. My currants ripen in June, when they bloom they have a strong spicy oder.


----------



## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

They look like pin cherry, both in fruits and leaves.

Martin


----------



## NickieL (Jun 15, 2007)

Not currents at all.


----------



## debbiebofjc (Jun 11, 2006)

I'm thinking it might be Deciduous Holly.
This is the first time I have noticed these bushes, and we have lived here for 16 years.
I don't get out to that end of the field much.
I'll keep an eye on them to see if the berries stick around all winter, that seems to be
the thing about holly.
If it is D. H. I'm assuming it is not edible.


----------



## mistletoad (Apr 17, 2003)

I think Martin has it.


----------



## Lisa in WA (Oct 11, 2004)

mistletoad said:


> I think Martin has it.


I think so too.


----------



## naturelover (Jun 6, 2006)

Taste the leaves and see if they taste like bay leaves. That plant looks to me like bay leaves and red bay berries.

.


----------



## partndn (Jun 18, 2009)

Wow, I'm anxious to know if that could be bay.
The only bay I've seen live was very small.


----------



## NostalgicGranny (Aug 22, 2007)

I'm interested too. The only bay I've ever seen was huge huge huge - but it was in california.


----------



## TheGoodLife (Jun 28, 2009)

I can't tell too well from the photo, but if the berries are mottled with small whitish dots then I think they're Aleagnus umbellata (no common name to my knowledge), which I think are yummy (though, like everything, they vary from plant to plant). I don't think they're pin cherries, though I can't tell from the photo, because pin cherries have longer stems and their leaves have tiny teeth -- these look smooth to me. Also, pin cherries (at least in my area -- Northern Illinois) are no longer ripe for picking -- their season ended about a month and a half ago.


----------



## NostalgicGranny (Aug 22, 2007)

By the way your mystery poo in the photobucket link looks like cat poo.


----------

