# I have tons of these...what are they please!!!



## nduetime

I have a lot of these of my tree line...alot! Can anybody tell me what they are and can we use them? thanks. I found this when i was picking wild plums...yum!
I think they are black currants but not 100%...help1


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## kentuckyhippie

they look like huckleberries to me


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## d'vash

Not black currants; leaves are completly different. 

I second it's a variety of huckleberry.


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## bluefish

You can take this for what it's worth as I'm not familiar with plants in your area let alone eastern huckleberries, but, out here, all huckleberries have the little flower ends on them. Like blueberries have. I can't see from the pic if those berries have those or not. The leaves look more like some sort of cherry to me. Or a ..............dang, the name has slipped my mind. Buck something or other.


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## nduetime

Well, waddya know! We have a ton of huckleberries then! They taste awful!!!:grit:


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## CountryCabin

You got chokecherries. I have identical ones to those here.....and yes they taste awful. Kinda make ya want to choke..?  Best made into jam or whatever you fancy.


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## bluefish

nduetime said:


> Well, waddya know! We have a ton of huckleberries then! They taste awful!!!:grit:



Then it can't be a huckleberry. They usually taste bland at worst. Chokecherries, though...........................:yuck:


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## Fennick

nduetime said:


> I have a lot of these of my tree line...alot! Can anybody tell me what they are and can we use them? thanks. I found this when i was picking wild plums...yum!
> I think they are black currants but not 100%...help1


That is common *buckthorn *(Rhamnus cathartica). Not chokecherry - the leaves are wrong for chokecherry - and not huckleberry - both the berries and leaves are wrong for huckleberry. In the pictures below note the differences in the veins in the leaves and the direction they grow in. Also note the glossiness on huckleberry leaves, which are small and shiny.

Chokecherry leaf










Black huckleberry leaves











Common buckthorn


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## po boy

Buckthorn or what I call a wild cherry.

Birds drop the seed along fence lines and from other trees..


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## nduetime

yup! buckthorn it is. Guess the hubby knew we had a lot of it and wanted to get rid of it if possible. He did not tell me though!!! Lol. Nasty...blech!


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## Tiempo

Yah, nasty buckthorn.


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## Jaclynne

Medicinally, buckthorn berries have a laxative, purgative effect.

Goats will eat it.


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## Cyngbaeld

You might take a sample to your county extension office to be sure what you have. It can be hard to tell from a photo. Also, note when the flowers bloom and what they look like. Does it bloom and then leaf out or leaf out and then bloom? How many seeds and is the fruit hollow? What kind, if any, of thorns does it have?


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## HerseyMI

I love the choke cherries up here, used to eat them all the time as a kid. They make a good wine also.


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## HappyYooper

CountryCabin said:


> You got chokecherries. I have identical ones to those here.....and yes they taste awful. Kinda make ya want to choke..?  Best made into jam or whatever you fancy.


They also make a wonderful wine :happy:


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## rod44

Buckthorn is very invasive. Get rid of it - all of it!


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## Osiris

Another vote for Buckthorn here. Get rid of it! Although the wood is a wonderful orange yellow, very strong, very resilient, very rot resistant. You might consider fence posts out of the stuff. That's about it. Very invasive tho. Here in IL, it's been reclassified as a noxious weed. It takes over the lower canopy of a wood and destroys the ground flora by shading it out.

The problem with Buckthorn is it's germination rate is like 150% on those berries! *Every one of those berries has at least one seed* and every seed will germinate! BURN IT!


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## bunnytech

Looks to me like common buckthorn which is toxic

Sent from my ZTE-Z990G using Homesteading Today mobile app


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## rod44

Buckthorn is terrible stuff GET RID OF IT!!!!!!!!!


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## bunnytech

Words of advice only about 5 percent of plants known to man and their fruit are edible so be 100 % sure what you are eating some can be very toxic

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## HerseyMI

Too bad the original poster didn't post a pic of the tree bark... if its grayish black and loose curls it would definitely be choke cherry and you can eat them or make wine with them.


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## Pony

If it has nasty sharp pointy thorns, then buckthorn for sure.

In Ill-annoy, the forest preserve districts cut it down, then apply a very strong herbicide to the cut on the plant. Those things are so darned tenacious, it's about the only way to kill it off.

One more non-indigenous species brought over from Europe.


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## Osiris

Pony said:


> If it has nasty sharp pointy thorns, then buckthorn for sure.
> 
> *FYI: Actually on Buckthorn, those aren't "thorns" per se. They are last year's leaf stem. Each year a new leaf is produced and last year's leaves stalk become a tough thorn-like stick. Just a bit of trivia....*
> 
> "....In Ill-annoy, the forest preserve districts cut it down, ....."
> *Yeah.... after aggressively planting them in the 60's to fill up their properties and create 'forests' where historically there were prairie and savannah." Now after the ecological damage they wrought, they're trying to play like everyone should chip in and help! And they also changed the laws so you can't PICK ANYTHING in the FPD's any more! Fancy that!*
> 
> One more non-indigenous species brought over from Europe.


 Agreed!


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## Drewberry

When in doubt.. Burn it out!!  
Don't you wish it was Blueberries??


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## Shrek

It may be a relative of Buckthorn however according to my PDR of herbal medicines 2nd edition published in 2000, as of 14 years ago says the habitat for Buckthorn is Europe, Western Asia and North Africa.

The PDR does say it can be confused with the fruit of Frangula alnus, which another of my wildcrafting references calls Rhamnus frangula and the PDR monograph for Frangula (Rhamnus frangula ) indicates the Frangula R.f. habitat includes North America and is also called Buckthorn and the bark and sometimes fruit of that plant is used for constipation due to its low percentage concentration of anthraquinone.

Both references specify the bark should be dried and stored for at least a year as the fresh bark or berries can cause violent purgative effect and is dangerous if taken in excess as it can cause electrolytes to drop quickly to critically low levels.


That is all this hobbyist level mountain witch can tell you from the picture since the mountain witch I inherited most of my wildcrafting references from died before she could intern me beyond wart removal and I have been too healthy to experiment with other wildcraft remedies on myself (but I do enjoy reading her old books sometimes ). 

Eradicate it or take a sample to your county agriculture agent if you are thinking of harvesting it for any use but keep that saying "if the condition don't kill you, the cure may" in your mind.


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## johnrawdon

The picture looks like what we in middle tn call Privet Hedge. I am not sure of the proper name but it is very invasive and the birds love it


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## Osiris

Well, you could always use the berries as a laxative.  Buckthorn does have some medicinal properties, but it's not worth saving. If you've got it, kill it! Chances are your neighbor has it too! You can always pick some there!


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## WriterontheHill

That's definitely buckthorn. You can tell by how the berry stems grow right out of the twig, often two right beside each other. They are invasive and should be cut/burned out. The berries stay on all winter, which feeds birds, but adds to the invasive property of the tree. We have them all along our property, hard to get rid of.

I've used herbs and wild food my entire life, buckthorn is one that I would never give to anyone. The toxins can be reacted to differently in each person, up to kidney failure with prolonged use.

Any cherry species grows on a stem with many berriues/cherries hanging straight down. So e may be sour, but never bitter like toxic berries. Some are very astringent, similar to unripe persimmons. That's how to tell these guys from cherries.


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## Pony

Shrek said:


> It may be a relative of Buckthorn however according to my PDR of herbal medicines 2nd edition published in 2000, as of 14 years ago says the habitat for Buckthorn is Europe, Western Asia and North Africa.


Yes, the natural habitat for buckthorn is Europe, Western Asia, and North Africa.

Someone decided to bring it across the Atlantic, though, so this non-indigenous species has become quite invasive.

I've been part of a crew to remove the stuff.

That's buckthorn.


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## Paquebot

Buckthorn is a major invasive species in Wisconsin and rapidly taking over some small woods. Neighbor planted a dozen in her back yard to as a sort of privacy plant in the early 1980s. About 10 years later, when they began producing berries, she learned of their unwelcome status and cut them down. Too late as I keep finding seedlings 20 years later. It is totally banned in some states.

Martin


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## Osiris

Now that we've all condemned the dreaded Buckthorn, i will say that it has a BEAUTIFUL, strong, rot-resistent and sturdy wood. The color is a gorgeous yellow orange, It'll stand dead for years and not rot. It's one tough tree. If only they could make commercial lumber out of it - still, it's not worth saving. KILL IT!


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