Berries

You may think that identifying a plant through its berries is a simple enough task; just find the right colour and size. However it’s not that easy and can require expert knowledge.

First of all, you also need to determine if your berry is actually a berry at all.

• Fruits and seeds that aren’t officially berries include drupes, pomes and Aggregate fruits.
• It’s worth making a note of the look of your ‘berry’, its colour and size, how many per stem there are and what they look like when opened.
• Never ‘test’ a berry by eating it. Some are very poisonous so it’s best to identify it before you taste it.

The most popular berry-producing plants in the UK are:

• Coral Berry – This slow-growing plant has deep green leaves and bright red berries, making it one of the most attractive berry house plants available. It is particularly popular around Christmas time because of its colour combination.
• Blackberry – This is actually an aggregate fruit but commonly falls under the ‘berry’ category. Blackberries grow wild across the UK and are a popular ingredient in pies, wine and jam.
• Hawthorn – Technically this is a pome, not a berry but like the aggregate, it is often categorised as one. Hawthorns have hard, pink-red berries that usually contain around 5 seeds.