Unknow berry...

scaulier

Hi everyone,

I am totally unable to identify this berry tree in my garden. I live in north of France, but this small tree in amount many other plants from all aver the world.. Thank for any help!

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jeffswede

Mulberry maybe.
Jeff

treeshaveneeds

The flower, and hence the fruit reminds me of a butterfly bush, but the leaf -- need better picture -- does not seem right.

dov

Butterfly bush? You mean like a Budleia? Definitely not that or a Mulberry. This one has me stumped - and quite fascinated.

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jeffswede

More pics might help, but I am not ruling out Mulberry.
Jeff

dov

Mulberries are much tighter things and plumper. The leaves are serrated and reasonably large.

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jeffswede

Things happen!
Jeff

dov

Haha! They do! I'm really quite interested in this berry though. Can't place it myself. Guess we'll wait til Julie comes online.

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treeshaveneeds

Maybe we should make up a thread of toughies -- just for Julie...

dov

I beat her to it once in a while, but rarely! Maybe we should...

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Done it

Pokeweed I think, I see it around sometimes. Lots of different images but it looks like this one.

Indian Phytolacca acinosa Indian Pokeweed (American Pokeweed) - Phytolacca acinosa

Eric Frei

That looks like dang good match, pokeweed!

None of that around here.

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dov

I think we have a winner! Well done. The plant tends to be quite toxic, so no eating the berries (some cook the berries then strain all the seeds out). The young leaves are used as a salad green, but they need to be blanched several times. Not worth the bother really.

Keep it as an ornamental.

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windthrown

Pokeweed...



From Wiki:

All parts of pokeweed are toxic including the raw aboveground leaves sprouting in the early spring[3]. The poisonous principles are found in highest concentrations in the rootstock, less in the mature leaves and stems, and least in the fruits. (Green fruits are slightly more toxic) Young leaves, if collected before acquiring a red color, are edible if boiled for 5 minutes, rinsed, and reboiled. Berries are toxic when raw but cooked juice is edible (the seeds remain toxic after cooking). However, it may be difficult to identify exactly when leaves have no red color whatsoever; an incorrect picking may result in a poisoning.

Young pokeweed leaves can be boiled three times to reduce the toxin, discarding the water after each boiling. The result is known as poke salit, or poke salad, and is occasionally available commercially.[4] Many authorities advise against eating pokeweed even after thrice boiling, as traces of the toxin may still remain. It should never be eaten uncooked. For many decades, poke salad has been a staple of southern U.S. cuisine, despite campaigns by doctors who believed pokeweed remained toxic even after being boiled. The lingering cultural significance of Poke salad can be found in the 1969 hit song "Polk Salad Annie," written and performed by Tony Joe White, and famously covered by Elvis Presley, as well as other bands including the El Orbits of Houston, Texas. Pokeberry juice is added to other juices for jelly by those who believe it can relieve the pain of arthritis. There are currently four known poke sallet festivals held annually. They are in Gainesboro, Tennessee; Blanchard, Louisiana; Harlan, Kentucky; and, Arab, Alabama.

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jmcg.insight.gardens

what this ? ......is this the pick on Julie thread..............



pokeweed huh, dam thing, knew I'd seen it, racked my brains all night, looked through all my weed books.

You guys wouldn't do that would you............

Julie

dov

There's a copy of the Encyclopaedia Botanica in bedside table shelf. Must admit I don't have a large number of plant books though. I tend to use university databases a lot.

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windthrown

My horticultural/botanical library is mostly in storage right now, so I have few books to stay up late reviewing. I knew it was not mulberry, or any cane berries, but that was about it. Pokeweed is not common around these parts and I have never eaten that stuff.

Poke Salad Julie...ann...

treeshaveneeds

I was actually thinking of it as a compliment Julie - it is real hard to beat the knowledge and persistence of a horticulturalist......

And with your own thread, we would know you see the problems, and be simultaneously amazed !!

jmcg.insight.gardens

you have to spell that ann with an e on the end,.......... dammit my secrets out.

Bloody Irish ancestry.

That book is proving elusive Windthrow, but several of my book contacts have their eyes peeled and I'm top of the list.

I've got to get that one, my copy of Botannica hasn't any pictures. Last count I've got about 400 odd books, mostly on Hort, I tried for years not to collect books, after I got rid of them all when going to live overseas. But since coming back here permanently, they have gradually snuck their way in here, I find it hard to resist a nice book. I try to only focus on out of print books now, my dodgy retirement plan.

I prefer books to the net, if you know your books it takes half the time.


So no great knowledge just great books.

Treeshaveneeds, but I do not think I'd cope with my own thread, sometimes I try not to do the ID thing, too tired after a hard days work, also to give everyone a chance, I am truly amazed by everyone really, some of the knowledge here on this site between everyone is awesome, I have lot's to learn too you know, so much more I want to know about trees. There will never be enough time to learn it all.



I was just thinking of the headspace I'd get into trying to get my assessments in and pass, work and do really hard Ident's at the same time.........

Therrin

You have to spell it with an "n" on the end, Julie. Its "Windthrown"

jmcg.insight.gardens

oops

sorry Windthrown

dov

Botanica only has sketches for some species, but it's a great book to have as a reference, especially with the glossary of common names etc. I saw it for $27 in a opportunity shop I think some years ago and snapped it up before they realised how much it's worth.

I'm also a bibliophile, but my collection ranges from a reasonable theological section to 19th century literature, biographies, histories of ancient Rome, Greece and the Middle East, Anthropology/Sociology and a small, but rather nice, antiquarian section. Can't afford the latter anymore - way too expensive at US$500 or more per book sometimes.

I gave up collecting books 7 years ago, but somehow I still seem to have to buy new bookshelves every now and then...

My sister (ex university lecturer) recently told me off for having less than 600 books in my bedroom and has been on the lookout for books/authors I 'must have' like Dostoyevsky etc.

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jmcg.insight.gardens

I've run out of room for bookshelves, the kitchen cupboards are overtaken....yikes. Need a new house. Op shops are my main source for books too, I've managed to pick up some very good reference books from them, the best source for out of print books.

I was into all that reading you do years back, then it seemed I went into overload on it. Haven't read any for a while, went through a phase of Psychology as well. I'm interested in the human mind. It can get a bit much though at times, now I just love to live life.

I thought that the latest Botannica had heaps of pictures. One of my favourite books at the moment is Cultivated Plants of the World by Don Ellison, I was given a copy as a gift by the owners of All Seasons Garden Centre when they sold and I finished working for them, it was their reference book. Keep an eye out for it, very comprehensive list of plants with photos.

dov

Maybe it does. Mine is not the most recent edition. Cheapest copy of your favourite I can find at the moment is about $62. Not bad I guess, but will have to put it on the wanters list for later.

I'm leaning far more towards literature at the moment and trawling my way gradually through books of note as well as some almost undiscovered gems. Burnt out a few years back trying to study plus look after parents (who are doing much better now) plus work plus church work etc. Came to the point where I literally could not read for about a year. For someone who stayed up all night reading even as a 7 year old, that was tough. Back in the swing of it now, but don't have as much time as I'd like. Guess I'm getting older too. These days if I settle into bed with a good book I just fall asleep!

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windthrown

Anne? Ay, shyte, I blew the culinary joke by spelling it wrong. I considered Annie. It was either a culinary joke or a musical joke. Cannot make them both work. I would have spelled it Annie for the musical joke.

Poke Salad Julianne... but then, slicing poke julinanne is probably not possible. Irish-Australian? Irish Americans are rather proud of being Irish. On St. Patricks Day, everyone is Irish in America for one day. Are you a flaming red head? Ginger? Or blonde? I never saw more blondes in my life until I went to Boston.

windthrown

Windthrow, or Windthrown. I considered both when choosing the alias some years ago. They are essentially the same, blown over trees. With the 'n' it sounds more upper crust in an east coast society type of way.

jmcg.insight.gardens

um , it's julienne anyway if your talking about cooking anyways.

But yes, Irish dad from Belfast. Red head? no, darkish brown hair, dark hazel eyes and fairly olive skin, black Irish it is, thrown from Iberian descent probably. Black Irish - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Family is a bit of a mix, uncles with black hair blue eyes, then dark brown hair and brown eyes and one uncle had wavy hair with lots of blonde red in it ( from the viking that our surname is derived from). Dad had black hair and olive skin with brown eyes. Mum is Scandinavian type from Lithuania, green eyes and fair skin. As one Scottish lady said to me once, ah the McG........ were all dark good looking boys.

Yeah, St Patrick's day is really celebrated here too, by people from Irish descent, by everyone really, but not by my family when I grew up as in Ireland it's celebrated by a national holiday. The day starts with going to church , then a parade and then going to the pub. We didn't celebrate it that much , except my grandma used to pin a St Pat's ribbon on me when I was little and tell me the story of how wonderful St Patrick banished all the snakes from Eire and sing to me in Gaelic. All the uncles and Dad went to the pub. If it was a Sunday we went to church, then the boys went to the pub.

now it's really just an excuse to party and get drunk in Australia, the following link sums it up.

(not for small children)

jmcg.insight.gardens

That's not bad, the book is basically 566 pages of eight colour plates per page and concise descriptions of a vast alphabetical list of cultivated plants. A good quality book. Will be another unavailable book one day.

That's because you are often trawling this site at about 2.00am, hehe.

Dostoyevsky is probably the most inanely boring book I've ever read, but determined I was , making myself read it part by part over about a year, a classic , but so boring. But I was determined to finish it, not to be beaten by a book. This one I saw tonight looks more like you. HIMALAYAN VILLAGE the Lepchas of Sikkim Geoffrey Gorer | Books & Games | Gumtree Mid-North Coast


I don't do do general reading anymore, not since caring for my grandma for a year. Caring for another must burn you out I guess. I'm past that now but can't pick up the general reading again.

dov

Which Dostoyevsky were you reading? I read Crime and Punishment last and couldn't put it down - think I missed about 3 days of work because of it after my sister gave me a really nicely bound copy for Christmas. Was a good translation too. As much as it was originally released in monthly installments in a Russian periodical, it's probably best read all at once or at the least in bug chunks. Want to read The Brothers Karamazov next.

Ummm yes, that book, while quite out of date, is way down my alley. Also I have several friends currently studying in Melbourne who are from Himalayan villages albeit from different parts, so extra bonus there. Can't afford it til the end of next week. Please! I'm trying not to buy books!

Caring for the elderly or the infirm does wear you out. I know that one from experience and am glad that my parents are well enough at the moment to be quite independent. They are one of the big reasons that I run my own business - so I can be there when they need me.

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windthrown

Not likely Black Irish. If you read the accounts of the Degos that washed ashore after the Armada failed in the storm, anyone speaking Spanish was put to a tortuous death and pretty fast. No place for a dark Latin bloke to hide amung starving throngs of nasty people speaking some dialect of Irish or Gaelic, or maybe Elizabethian English. No one would have put the invaders up for long on those islands. Generally the nasty Scots were hired and put in charge of the Irish by the Brits. Ay!

Dark skin tones may well extend from Roman times. My family is the same mix, dark, red and blonde, with blue, green, hazel and brown eyes. I cannot tan for crap. I was blonde as a kid, but then my hair turned darker. Now its light grey. My mom's side is 12th generation American from the UK/North France mostly (came over in the 17th century), and my father's family was 3rd generation from Norway/Denmark.