# Id this tree? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 15, 2014, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-tree/678833 "2014-01-15T00:08:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-tree/678833/1 "2014-01-15T00:08:18Z")
[Pic](http://s294.photobucket.com/user/badger60/media/tree_zps691dbc03.jpg.html#/user/badger60/media/tree_zps691dbc03.jpg.html). The berries are maybe slightly larger than a green pea. Central South Carolina, and these trees grow like weeds. ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-tree/678833/2 "2014-01-15T00:21:52Z")
It looks like White Ash. ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-tree/678833/3 "2014-01-15T00:43:44Z")
I’m thinking Black Cherry (Prunus serotina). It has alternate leaves, the Ash has opposite leaves. ---
**Author:** ![SeldomSeen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@SeldomSeen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeldomSeen)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-tree/678833/4 "2014-01-15T00:45:31Z")
They look kinda like [Chokecherries](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prunus_virginiana) (Prunus virginiana) although the Carolinas are a little far south for them. Could also be Choke_berries_ (_Aronia_) which does apparently grow there, although the leaves don’t look quite right. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-tree/678833/5 "2014-01-15T00:51:05Z")
The Larch ---
**Author:** ![newme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e0b2c6/32.png) [@newme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newme)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-tree/678833/6 "2014-01-15T04:02:05Z")
Crush the leaves or peel some bark and give it the sniff test. If it smells like cherry, it probably is. Note that not all cherries in the southern US are edible; they have too much prussic acid. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-tree/678833/7 "2014-01-15T04:27:45Z")
> [@Honey](#): > > It looks like White Ash. Aside of course from the fact that the [leaves](http://www.meridian.k12.il.us/middle%20school/student_work/evanc/whiteashleaf.JPG) and [fruits](http://sites.ipfw.edu/native-trees/images/Ash,%20White,%20Fruit22.JPG) are completely different from White Ash.😉 ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-tree/678833/8 "2014-01-15T23:02:01Z")
Some variety of tupelo? ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-tree/678833/9 "2014-01-16T09:08:39Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Some variety of tupelo? No, clearly not. Tupelo fruit may look similar, if you look only at it, but tupulus flower and fruit only at the end of the branch. The OP’s tree has the fruit back up _before_ a bunch of leaves. Also the leaves have the centre vein, but no more veins visible. Also the leaves have that dimply or wavy edge, and the same texture/colour. So its Prunus… So along with cherry like fruit, dark coloured, thats four distinctive characteristics of Prunus… The leaves do look different at different ages of tree, and tree people generally want the bark to identify the tree . But prunus is growing well in the Carolinas , and as a tree ? Its Black Cherry (Prunus serotina) ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-tree/678833/10 "2014-01-16T16:43:02Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Aside of course from the fact that the [leaves](http://www.meridian.k12.il.us/middle%20school/student_work/evanc/whiteashleaf.JPG) and [fruits](http://sites.ipfw.edu/native-trees/images/Ash,%20White,%20Fruit22.JPG) are completely different from White Ash.😉 I thought the leaves did look similar, that’s why I thought it was a White Ash. Sorry about that. ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-tree/678833/11 "2014-01-16T17:04:31Z")
The fruit however, looks nothing like White Ash. Brain lapse. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-tree/678833/12 "2014-01-16T18:23:52Z")
> [@Honey](#): > > I thought the leaves did look similar, that’s why I thought it was a White Ash. The leaves are completely different. Not to pick on you, but perhaps some fundamentals of plant identification are in order. White ash has opposite compound leaves (a very unusual combination among North American trees), while the tree in the photos has alternate simple leaves (very common). Even the shapes of the leaflets/leaves are rather different, ash having somewhat ovate leaflets with a broad base, while the leaves in the photos are more elliptical and narrow towards the base. Since we have lots of experts here, it’s better not to jump in with your first impression.😉 ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-tree/678833/13 "2014-01-16T18:41:15Z")
Those fruit aren’t on a raceme. Black cherries bear fruit on racemes. So do choke cherries and pin cherries. Is there more than one seed in each fruit? OP said they’re berries, and cherries aren’t berries, they’re drupes. ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-tree/678833/14 "2014-01-16T18:59:50Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > OP said they’re berries, and cherries aren’t berries, they’re drupes. Was the OP correct in calling them berries though? ---
**Author:** ![Nature\_s\_Call](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nature_s_call/32/19006_2.png) [@Nature\_s\_Call](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nature_s_Call)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-tree/678833/15 "2014-01-16T19:10:14Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > The Larch The… Larch ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-tree/678833/16 "2014-01-16T19:14:05Z")
> [@MacCat](#): > > Was the OP correct in calling them berries though? He could be using the term in the loose sense, for any small fleshy fruit, and not the strict botanical one. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-tree/678833/17 "2014-01-16T19:28:16Z")
> [@Isilder](#): > > The OP’s tree has the fruit back up _before_ a bunch of leaves. > Also the leaves have the centre vein, but no more veins visible. > Also the leaves have that dimply or wavy edge, and the same texture/colour. > > So its Prunus… So along with cherry like fruit, dark coloured, thats four distinctive characteristics of Prunus… However, both P. serotina and P. virginiana have serrate leaf margins. The photo is pretty crappy, but it doesn’t look like they have serrate margins to me. I think we need better photos and more information from the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-tree/678833/18 "2014-01-16T19:41:04Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > He could be using the term in the loose sense, for any small fleshy fruit, and not the strict botanical one. Yeah. Botanical presciptivists. Can’t live with 'em, and it’s against the rules to make fun of 'em. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-tree/678833/19 "2014-01-16T19:46:03Z")
I’m going with some type of [Tupelo](https://www.google.com/search?q=tupelo+tree&safe=off&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=4DbYUpKiBKaisQT-oYCQAQ&sqi=2&ved=0CCkQsAQ&biw=1440&bih=770). ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-tree/678833/20 "2014-01-16T20:00:34Z")
How about hackberry? Alternate leaves, little purple berries arranged that way. Leaves are serrated, but there’s a lot of species. They commonly grow as “weed trees” also. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-tree/678833.md?page=2)