Native Plants
Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.
Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
rate this answer
Friday - June 15, 2012
From: Annapolis, MD
Region: Mid-Atlantic
Topic: Plant Identification, Shrubs
Title: Shrub with red two-globed berries
Answered by: Nan Hampton
QUESTION:
I am looking for the name of a red berry with 2 globes attached to each other on a plant with small soft oval shaped leaves.I live in Maryland and they are maturing now. These bushes are in the park I walk in that used to be a fruit farm.ANSWER:
If it is a plant native to North America, it is likely to be in our Native Plant Database. I did a COMBINAION SEARCH in the database (and you can do it, too) choosing "Maryland" from the Select State or Province and "Shrub" from Habit (general appearance). This will give you a list of more than 160 native shrubs found in Maryland. Most of the species pages include photos. For those that don't, you can scroll down the species page to near the bottom to find ADDITIONAL RESOURCES and click on the species name under Google. You can then find images of the shrub on the internet. Here are several from that list that look similar to your description.
Euonymus atropurpureus (Burningbush)
Euonymus americanus (American strawberry-bush)
Lonicera canadensis (American fly honeysuckle). Here are photos and more information.
Physocarpus opulifolius (Atlantic ninebark)
If none of these is the plant you have seen, it is very likely that it is a non-native cultivar that would not appear in our Native Plant Database. If you have (or can take) a photo of the plant, you can find on our Plant Identification page links to several plant identification forums that will accept photos of plants for identification.
From the Image Gallery
More Shrubs Questions
Shrub to hide gas line and water faucet from Stamford CT
May 23, 2013 - I have a small garden ( 8'x10') in front of my house in southwestern Connecticut which faces north. It gets very limited sun and the eave hangs over it. I am looking for a shrub to plant up against ...
view the full question and answer
Evergreen native shrubs for poor drainage area in Cedar Hill, TX
March 21, 2008 - Hi! I have one (big!) bed in on the front of my house. Due to the way the house/motorcourt is built, that area (when it rains as much as it did last year!) doesn't drain well. I now have to replac...
view the full question and answer
Native holly (ilex) for Austin area
May 28, 2006 - Hi--my brother and his family live in Austin, TX--their german shepard "Holly" just died (she was 13)--I was throwing around the idea of sending them a holly plant of some sort to have in honor of H...
view the full question and answer
Deer resistant plants for Trinity, TX
March 23, 2013 - I need a list of deer resistant flowers, herbs and plants that would could be planted in Trinity, Texas.
view the full question and answer
Dwarf foundation plants for St. Augustine FL
May 03, 2010 - Need to put in fast, low growing (3' max) foundation plants that would be frost hardy and work well in the St. Augustine area of Northeast Florida.
view the full question and answer
Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |