Name that berry

I'm looking for some help identifying some berry bushes we have around our property. We have 6-7 mature bushes that have been on the property for more than 8 years and I recently noticed that they are producing berries. Can you help tell me what they are?

The bushes are about 6-7 feet tall. Leaves are green on top and silvery underneath. The berries appear are ripening now (August) and are red with spots, and measure about 3/8 of an inch in length. Each berry contains a single pit/seed. I attached some pictures that hopefully will help.

Yes, they are autumn olive berries and are good for you.

Are there tiny white spots all over the berry? If so, it would support the Olive Berry identity.

Chickens go crazy for them and they are loaded with Lycopene. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autumn_olive

I got some closeup pictures of the berries. Hopefully these help to show the look of the berries themselves. I'm surprised that autumn olive is the consensus. I was told that autumn olive are aggressive, while these bushes seem content on staying put and not spreading.

I've heard the same thing about invasiveness but I've not had that issue at my place. I have them in small clusters but they don't seem to spread. They do grow very fast but that's a good thing in my book. They are easy to cut back anyway. There is also a lot of variability between plants, so some may be more invasive than others. Enjoy them.

They are aggressive through birds pooping them throughout the countryside. Also depends on the type of climate they are in whether that works good or not. I have some feral seedlings that have popped up in recent years, probably from all the plantings the government was promoting, but the deer and rabbits have kept them knocked down. I also have the cultivars and protect those, so they survive, yet they have had dieback from winter or cankers maybe too.

Remember some of the invasives are hyped and people make it sound like the sky is falling. Maybe in some perfect locations it is like that, but a lot of places have not ideal situations.

Thanks for your help identifying these bushes and for the information. Unfortunately, I don't live in an area where chickens are permitted. All recent attempts to change that have failed horribly. So, I'll be on the look out for other uses for my autumn olive berries.

I hear they make decent jam.

Autumn Olive Berry, E.umbellata is also a Nitrogen Fixer, working with the frankia bacteria to improve your soil. It's listed with Alder as the non-leguminous n-fixers. I want this plant a lot.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actinorhizal_plant
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankia

Best,
William

It can be invasive back east, where there are summer rains. Out here, there are no summer rains and it's not invasive. Berries are the most nutritious, the most expensive and the hardest to find of the fruits. It is autumn olive and they are disease free, and beautiful, as you can see. It grows from cuttings, and is somewhat thorny, so you could make a hedge out of it.
John S
PDX OR

Good find - lucky you. Tough, nitrogen-fixing and nutritious.