Is this a blueberry tree/bush or ...?|Berberis darwinii

JohnW

Dear Tree World Members

I would be grateful for advice as to what kind of tree I have in the garden of a house I have just moved into (in the western suburbs of London, England).

The tree itself is full of fruit, small dark blue/purple berries (approx 1/2 cm in diameter) and are very juicy. The leaves are also small (1 to 2 cm in length) with several points and don't look like those in a number of pictures I have looked at of blueberry bushes/trees. The height of the tree is approximately 2 m.

I attach 2 pictures - one of the whole tree and the second a closeup of fruit and leaves.



Any thoughts as to what I have?




John

(PS I hope that I have successfully managed to include my pictures in this post.)

Attached Thumbnails

   

JohnW

Correction. I don't seem to be able to measure today. The tree is almost 4 m high (not 2 m).
John

paul arb 1

Hi hope i can help you out it looks like a shrub called aberberis . there are lots of varieties could be one called darwin 11 . did it have yellow or orange flowers befor it fruited ? but could be wrong but if you look on net for berberis might help good look.

Eric Frei

Spot on.

Berberis darwinii

Berberis darwinii - Plants For A Future database report

PDF from Australia .... a weed here!

Attached Files

Berberis darwinii assessment.pdf (87.0 KB, 80 views)

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JohnW

Many thanks to both respondents.

I didn't get to see flowers (the plant already had green fruit when I moved in) so can't use them as a clue as to type of tree.

However, from the description and pictures in the pdf file (as well as other sources) it certainly looks as though it should be Berberis darwinii. Some of those other sources also suggest that the fruit might be edible (although rather sour).

Thanks again.

John