coralberry, Symphoricarpos orbiculatus

If you're old enough, you might remember coralberry. It wasn't unusual to see bushes with tight bunches of pink or white berries planted as foundation ornaments. The pink ones were coralberry, the white ones a close relative. You may not remember the flowers, and here you see why. Although sometimes they get larger, but not much. The inability to compete at flower time is probably why this is no longer popular. The berries are yucky, not even much appreciated by wild critters. The Dakota, Ojibwa, Omaha, and Ponca peoples used an infusion of leaves or bark as an eye wash. Coralberry is a native shrub growing in AL, AR, CT, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, NE, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WI, WV, and ON. Fayette Co KY, 7/15/15. Honeysuckle family, Caprifoliaceae.