Tree/Shrub Identification

[Sinaves]

Hi,

Going for a walk along the River Loxley in Sheffield in June I noticed this tree/shrub about the size of an Elder flowering in a hedgerow next to a derelict factory. I took some photos but failed to find it in my tree ID book when I got home. I am hoping somebody might be able to ID it for me.




Even of it's not to sp level I'd appreciate if Order, Family or Genus could be pointed out. I was also wondering if it would be native or introduced, and whether it was likely planted or self-seeded?

Thanks very much

Sinaves

[AshLee]

Hi Sinaves, It looks like a Guelder Rose. I think this is native, and it could well have been planted.
Ash

[chelostoma]

I think it is a "Guelder rose" Viburnum opulus, a native shrub, and selfset from the seeds carried to the site by birds. The red berries look a bit like red currants, but in a bunch like rowan berries.
It has a flatter flower head than the similar garden variey of viburnum, the "snowball tree"

[Sinaves]

Hi Ash,

Yes I found some pictures of the Guelder Rose and it is clearly this sp unless there are some other similar sp. It's interesting that it's native, I was expecting that it was introduced as it's not something I remember seeing often. Would be nice to think it was wild but when I looked it up it said they were frequently planted so I expect the chances aren't very high.

Thanks very much for your ID

Sinaves

[Sinaves]

Hi Chelostoma,

Thanks for your confirmation of sp and that it's not the garden variety. So it is plausible that it was selfset? Wasn't clear whether the shrubs and trees in the hedgerow adjacent to the derelict factory were planted or not; they weren't ordered and were mixed with hawthorn, birch and alder, but it's hard to say.

Sinaves

[chelostoma]

Hi Sinaves,
There are several 'planted' guelder rose in my garden and a small 'woodland edge' planting that I look after on a roadside verge nearby. I do occasionally come across guelder seedlings in a shady gravel path alongside seedlings of things such as ivy, elder, holly, hawthorn and ash etc.

Richard Mabey, writing in Flora Britannica, says "Guelder- rose grows up to about 12 feet by riversides and in fens, damp scrub, old hedgerows and woods throughout Britain" So I guess, even if it had originally been part of a planted hedge, it would eventually happily self seed in the habitat that you described, the derelict factory buildings by the river Loxley.
Sounds like an interesting spot.

best wishes
chelostoma

[Sinaves]

Hi Chelostoma,

I can see they would make excellent additions to a garden. The flowers are attractive but the pictures of their glossy red berries I've seen on the internet seem very beautifull. If the birds love them as well than all the better.
So now I know what it is I'll look out for it. I'll probably start seeing it everywhere which often happens when I learn a new sp.

Thanks for everybody's info

Sinaves

[Deal Done]

Just to warn you that the berries are poisonous. In my parents garden they have a variety that flowers like the native Guelder Rose (not like the snowball tree) but instead of the berries being red they are a a beige/yellow.