# Identify this berry **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 31, 2008, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-berry/458376 "2008-07-31T16:48:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Procrastinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/45deac/32.png) [@Procrastinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrastinator)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-berry/458376/1 "2008-07-31T16:48:22Z")
I was taking a walk around the lake the other day and found lots of bushes and small trees with small red berries on them. The berries look just like the redcurrants in this wikipedia article: [Redcurrant - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redcurrant). They are red, translucent and taste bitter. However, the leaves are different from the redcurrants in the article. They are simple, but instead of being five-lobed they are smooth. Does anyone know what these are? Are they edible? ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-berry/458376/2 "2008-07-31T17:23:26Z")
If you can post again in a little while, I reckon that means they’re not poisonous, at least. Don’t eat something if you don’t know what it is! Anyway, can you get a pic? There’s lots of trees with red berry-like fruit (I’m pretty sure it’s not going to be a true berry). Also, a general location would be helpful. ---
**Author:** ![Procrastinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/45deac/32.png) [@Procrastinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrastinator)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-berry/458376/3 "2008-07-31T17:28:29Z")
[QUOTE=An Arky] Anyway, can you get a pic? There’s lots of trees with red berry-like fruit (I’m pretty sure it’s not going to be a true berry). Also, a general location would be helpful. [/QUOTE] I can’t get a picture because I don’t have a camera, sorry. They look exactly like the redcurrants in the wikipedia article. Most of them were two spheres stuck together. I found these around the lake at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. But some stuff on that camps is not native to the region or the US. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-berry/458376/4 "2008-07-31T17:37:25Z")
Were they [Autumn Olive](http://www.sierrapotomac.org/W_Needham/Pictures/AutumnOlive_Massanutten%20South_10-09-04.jpg) berries? Or were they these [inkweed berries](http://members.iinet.net.au/~weeds/western_weeds/plant_images_n-z/Phytolacca_octandra.jpg)? BTW - Never, Ever, EVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVER Eat berries if you don’t know that they are. Mkay? ---
**Author:** ![Procrastinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/45deac/32.png) [@Procrastinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrastinator)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-berry/458376/5 "2008-07-31T17:41:32Z")
[QUOTE=Phlosphr] Were they [Autumn Olive](http://www.sierrapotomac.org/W_Needham/Pictures/AutumnOlive_Massanutten%20South_10-09-04.jpg) berries? Or were they these [inkweed berries](http://members.iinet.net.au/~weeds/western_weeds/plant_images_n-z/Phytolacca_octandra.jpg)? [/QUOTE] Autumn Olive. Thanks a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-berry/458376/6 "2008-07-31T19:17:01Z")
You’ll be fine. May give you the shits, may not… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-berry/458376/7 "2008-07-31T19:22:45Z")
Says in Wikipedia it’s edible and high in lycopene, so you’re good! 😃 I like it, the berries look cool. ---
**Author:** ![Procrastinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/45deac/32.png) [@Procrastinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrastinator)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-berry/458376/8 "2008-07-31T19:29:48Z")
[QUOTE=Procrastinator] Autumn Olive. Thanks a lot. [/QUOTE] Actually, they might not be Autumn Olive. The great internet says they’re sweet and have small scales. My berries are perfectly smooth and bitter. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-berry/458376/9 "2008-07-31T19:54:28Z")
[QUOTE=Procrastinator] Actually, they might not be Autumn Olive. The great internet says they’re sweet and have small scales. My berries are perfectly smooth and bitter. [/QUOTE] Sweet? Bitter? You shouldn’t eat them if you’re not sure what they are. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-berry/458376/10 "2008-07-31T19:57:20Z")
[QUOTE=Procrastinator] Actually, they might not be Autumn Olive. The great internet says they’re sweet and have small scales. My berries are perfectly smooth and bitter. [/QUOTE] The autumn olive berries this time of year are very sour. Wait until September when they will develope white spots, then it’s good to eat them…Basically, the berries you ate were “young” berries, they will mature in a month. Good luck finding any, the cat birds and thrushes will consume nearly all of them the second they become ripe enough to their liking. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-berry/458376/11 "2008-07-31T20:35:52Z")
[Bearberry.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bearberry) They are bitter. But apparently have many uses. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-berry/458376/12 "2008-07-31T20:49:47Z")
[QUOTE=Procrastinator] My berries are perfectly smooth and bitter. [/QUOTE] I nominate this for worst pickup line ever. ---
**Author:** ![Procrastinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/45deac/32.png) [@Procrastinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrastinator)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-berry/458376/13 "2008-07-31T21:25:30Z")
[QUOTE=brujaja] [Bearberry.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bearberry) They are bitter. But apparently have many uses. [/QUOTE] I don’t think this is them, because the leaves on the berries I found “my berries” are a little more pointed at the tip. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-berry/458376/14 "2008-07-31T23:47:54Z")
[QUOTE=clairobscur] Sweet? Bitter? You shouldn’t eat them if you’re not sure what they are. [/QUOTE] I agree wholeheartedly, although the OP has only spoken of _tasting_ them so far - and may not actually have consumed even one berry. Of course, there’s still a slight risk of the thing being tasted is so toxic/corrosive/whatever that even a tiny taste, spat out immediately afterward, being dangerous - so caution is probably a good thing, after all. ---
**Author:** ![Anaglyph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Anaglyph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaglyph)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-berry/458376/15 "2008-08-01T07:56:30Z")
[QUOTE=Procrastinator] I can’t get a picture because I don’t have a camera, sorry. They look exactly like the redcurrants in the wikipedia article. Most of them were two spheres stuck together. I found these around the lake at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. But some stuff on that camps is not native to the region or the US. [/QUOTE] Some variety of honeysuckle, e.g. Lonicera? They normally have berries that come in pairs or dense clusters, like spheres stuck together [first picture on this page](http://www.stewardshipgarden.org/basics/berries.html)[or here](http://www.johnsonscreek.co.uk/Lonicera%20periclymenum-fruit-02-08-04.jpg) [or these](http://www.ppws.vt.edu/scott/weed_id/lonmo.htm) ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-berry/458376/16 "2008-08-01T08:40:44Z")
If you’re in a cool climate, like the pacific NW, they could be [red huckleberries](http://www.nawwal.org/~mrgoff/pictures/picpgs/99814.html) ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-berry/458376/17 "2008-08-01T11:09:30Z")
I’d say they are honeysuckle berries, which is a species that is a weed bush. The berries are often stuck together and come in colors from orange to red. Cut them out of an area and in a couple years the place is full of large bushes again. ---
**Author:** ![Procrastinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/45deac/32.png) [@Procrastinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrastinator)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-berry/458376/18 "2008-08-01T11:54:10Z")
Looks like honeysuckle wins, but I have to go to campus again and make sure the leaves are opposite and not alternate. I will report back this evening (unless it starts thunderstorming). ---
**Author:** ![Procrastinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/45deac/32.png) [@Procrastinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrastinator)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2008, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-berry/458376/19 "2008-08-02T00:45:08Z")
Opposite leaves. Honeysuckle it is. Good thing I didn’t get sick.