# Plant ID, Please **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 19, 2015, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plant-id-please/740868 "2015-12-19T20:02:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ZomZom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zomzom/32/5620_2.png) [@ZomZom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZomZom)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plant-id-please/740868/1 "2015-12-19T20:02:32Z")
[Here’s a pic](https://www.flickr.com/photos/mangoldm/21744519604/in/datetaken-public/) of the berries on a plant in my Maryland back yard, taken in October. It now looks [like this](https://www.flickr.com/photos/mangoldm/23769403281/in/datetaken-public/) in December. Any ID on what this plant is would be appreciated. TIA ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plant-id-please/740868/2 "2015-12-19T20:09:11Z")
They look to me a lot like service berries, but I don’t know if they grow out east, and I am not a botanist. ---
**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:** [December 19, 2015, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plant-id-please/740868/3 "2015-12-19T20:35:37Z")
A description of the plant would be helpful. Woody or not? How tall? What kind of leaves? ---
**Author:** ![ZomZom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zomzom/32/5620_2.png) [@ZomZom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZomZom)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plant-id-please/740868/4 "2015-12-19T20:41:27Z")
Wish I could remember. Was so focussed on the flowers/berries that I don’t remember the leaves. The plant gets pretty tall if I remember correctly, maybe 10 feet or so. Here are a couple pics ([1](https://www.flickr.com/photos/mangoldm/20184896615/in/datetaken-public/)) ([2](https://www.flickr.com/photos/mangoldm/19821455250/in/datetaken-public/)) from earlier this year in springtime. ---
**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:** [December 19, 2015, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plant-id-please/740868/5 "2015-12-19T20:53:11Z")
> [@ZomZom](#): > > Wish I could remember. Was so focussed on the flowers/berries that I don’t remember the leaves. The plant gets pretty tall if I remember correctly, maybe 10 feet or so. Here are a couple pics ([1](https://www.flickr.com/photos/mangoldm/20184896615/in/datetaken-public/)) ([2](https://www.flickr.com/photos/mangoldm/19821455250/in/datetaken-public/)) from earlier this year in springtime. But it’s non-woody? ---
**Author:** ![ZomZom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zomzom/32/5620_2.png) [@ZomZom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZomZom)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plant-id-please/740868/6 "2015-12-19T21:01:06Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > But it’s non-woody? Not entirely sure how to classify, but [here’s a pic](https://www.flickr.com/photos/mangoldm/23223749324/in/datetaken-public/) of a stem. ---
**Author:** ![Bewildebeest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@Bewildebeest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bewildebeest)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2015, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plant-id-please/740868/7 "2015-12-20T01:32:40Z")
Could it be some variety of green briar; Smilax? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2015, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plant-id-please/740868/8 "2015-12-20T02:08:29Z")
I am confident that it is not a serviceberry. For one thing, you wouldn’t see intact berries like that on a serviceberry in Maryland in October; they’d long since have been eaten by birds (or humans) or shriveled up and fallen off. ---
**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:** [December 20, 2015, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plant-id-please/740868/9 "2015-12-20T03:03:21Z")
> [@Bewildebeest](#): > > Could it be some variety of green briar; Smilax? The flowers (and berries) are five-parted, while Smilax flowers are six-parted. > [@Jackmannii](#): > > I am confident that it is not a serviceberry. For one thing, you wouldn’t see intact berries like that on a serviceberry in Maryland in October; they’d long since have been eaten by birds (or humans) or shriveled up and fallen off. Also, the flower is quite different. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2015, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plant-id-please/740868/10 "2015-12-20T04:16:03Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > They look to me a lot like service berries, but I don’t know if they grow out east, and I am not a botanist. Amelanchier grows all over North America, with many wild varieties… This one appears wild as not a nice flower or fruit… You can all them all service berry presumably. One is called “sanguinises” after its blood red branches. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2015, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plant-id-please/740868/11 "2015-12-20T04:28:50Z")
I see Amelanchier arborea x grandiflora grows that many flowers and hence pomes (not a true berry) in each bunch… The flower stem structure could be from one of them … ---
**Author:** ![newme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e0b2c6/32.png) [@newme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newme)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2015, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plant-id-please/740868/12 "2015-12-20T04:42:28Z")
I believe that is a species in the genus \*Aralia, \*which includes the Devil’s Walking Stick. [http://www.missouriplants.com/Whitealt/Aralia\_spinosa\_page.html](http://www.missouriplants.com/Whitealt/Aralia_spinosa_page.html) ---
**Author:** ![ZomZom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zomzom/32/5620_2.png) [@ZomZom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZomZom)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2015, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plant-id-please/740868/13 "2015-12-20T16:20:29Z")
I think you got it, newme. After some Googling it looks like Aralia spinosa or Aralia elata. I’m partial to spinosa for the nick name “Devil’s Walking Stick.” Thank you!