This bush grows in several places in my yard. The berries look a lot like currants, but the leaf pattern is wrong. I notice the birds don't seem to eat the berries, which makes me think I shouldn't either. Any thoughts?
Whether a bird can eat a berry or not is no indication whatsoever as to whether it is edible by humans. As an example, birds will eat the fruit of poison ivy... I believe what is in the photograph is a Lonicera, or honeysuckle. These are generally inedible / unpalatable by humans, with a few exceptions (but I don't believe this is an exception). This is, I think, is the invasive (in eastern USA) Amur honeysuckle.
Thank you so much. We have a lot of honeysuckle in our yard, but it's all vining, not upright. It's still very pretty, especially now that the berries are out.
I think this is a species of Cornus. The Cornelian Cherry (Cornus mas) has leaves like the shrub in the picture and I know they produce small, red, cherry-like fruits. I used to have one in my old back garden. Might be worth looking up on google images or something.
I agree with Daniel. It is Lonicera. The veins on the leaves are very different on Cornus. Colour, shape and translucent nature also wrong for Cornus mas. http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=co...h&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&biw=1269&bih=532&sei= VzG5Tqm6N8HW8gPnj8mmBw#um=1&hl=en&rls=p%2Ccom.microsoft:en-gb%3AIE-SearchBox&rlz=1I7SUNA_en-GB&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=cornus+mas+leaf&oq=cornus+mas+leaf&aq=f&aqi=g1&aql=&gs_sm=s&gs_upl=2265l3890l0l5125l5l5l0l0l0l0l454l798l3-1.1l5l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=2bebff25f5dbdf89&biw=1269&bih=532
