I've identified these shrubs in the neighbourhood of our cottage in Val-des-Monts, Quebec.
Please report any errors of identification.
My recommended guidebook for shrubs in this area is Shrubs of Ontario by James Soper and Margaret Heimberger.
Please report any errors of identification.
My recommended guidebook for shrubs in this area is Shrubs of Ontario by James Soper and Margaret Heimberger.
- Bittersweet
- Black cherry
- Black huckleberry
- Black raspberry
- Common blackberry
- Elderberry (early one)
- Glossy buckthorn
- Hobblebush
- Honeysuckle
- Leatherleaf
- Leatherwood
- Maple-leaved viburnum
- Mountain-holly
- Narrow-leaved meadowsweet
- Northern bush honeysuckle
- Prickly gooseberry
- Pussy willow
- Riverbank grape
- Sage-leaved willow
- Staghorn sumach
- Sweet gale
- Upland willow
- Virgin's bower
- Wild gooseberry
- Wild red raspberry
- Winterberry
Bittersweet
Celastrus scandens
Family: Stafftree
The orange berries shown here are an early phase of the fruit. The orange "skin" opens up to reveal red berries.
Click here for excellent photos and description.
Celastrus scandens
Family: Stafftree
The orange berries shown here are an early phase of the fruit. The orange "skin" opens up to reveal red berries.
Click here for excellent photos and description.
Bittersweet
Black cherry
Prunus serotina
Family: Rose
Differentiating chokecherry and black cherry can be difficult but there are differences. Black cherry leaves are narrower and taper at the tip, chokecherry are oval or obovate, rounded with an acuminate tip. The teeth are quite different, best appreciated under the microscope. Black cherry teeth are incurved back toward the leaf and have tiny glands at the tip. Chokecherry teeth are like sharp forward-facing lances. On the underside, black cherry is mildly hairy all along the midvein. In May these hairs are white but become rust-coloured. Chokecherry has hairs in the axils of the midvein which are closer to the base.
In the examples I have there are glands on the petiole close to the chokecherry leaf but none on the black cherry leaf. I think they may develop later.
Chokecherry is in bloom now (May 28) but not the black cherry I see, and this is the usual order according to Trees in Canada.
I get no almond smell from crushed leaf or scraped twig of the black cherry in May. Chokecherry twigs are said to have a bitter almond smell when broken, Black cherry leaves and inner bark are said too as well.
The leaves in the lower photos are yellow, having been taken October 26, 2023. But specifically there are thick orange-coloured hairs along the lower third of the central rib on the underside of the leaves.
Chokeberry is a third species to consider. I have not identified any yet.
Click here for excellent photos and description.
Prunus serotina
Family: Rose
Differentiating chokecherry and black cherry can be difficult but there are differences. Black cherry leaves are narrower and taper at the tip, chokecherry are oval or obovate, rounded with an acuminate tip. The teeth are quite different, best appreciated under the microscope. Black cherry teeth are incurved back toward the leaf and have tiny glands at the tip. Chokecherry teeth are like sharp forward-facing lances. On the underside, black cherry is mildly hairy all along the midvein. In May these hairs are white but become rust-coloured. Chokecherry has hairs in the axils of the midvein which are closer to the base.
In the examples I have there are glands on the petiole close to the chokecherry leaf but none on the black cherry leaf. I think they may develop later.
Chokecherry is in bloom now (May 28) but not the black cherry I see, and this is the usual order according to Trees in Canada.
I get no almond smell from crushed leaf or scraped twig of the black cherry in May. Chokecherry twigs are said to have a bitter almond smell when broken, Black cherry leaves and inner bark are said too as well.
The leaves in the lower photos are yellow, having been taken October 26, 2023. But specifically there are thick orange-coloured hairs along the lower third of the central rib on the underside of the leaves.
Chokeberry is a third species to consider. I have not identified any yet.
Click here for excellent photos and description.
Chokecherry (left) and black cherry
Choke cherry and black cherry
Chokeberry
Chokeberry
Black cherry in late October
Zoom in to see the rust-coloured hairs on the midrib.
The petiole curves at the base. I am not sure if this is specific for black cherry.
Black huckleberry
Gaylussacia baccata
Family: Heath
I am only somewhat sure about this identification because there were no flowers or fruit. The leaves are similar to blueberry but thicker. Under the microscope, there are numerous resin dots especially visible on the underside.
Click here for excellent photos and description.
Gaylussacia baccata
Family: Heath
I am only somewhat sure about this identification because there were no flowers or fruit. The leaves are similar to blueberry but thicker. Under the microscope, there are numerous resin dots especially visible on the underside.
Click here for excellent photos and description.
Black huckleberry
Black huckleberry. Resin dots on leaf underside (microscope photo).
Black raspberry (Thimbleberry)
Rubus occidentalis
Family: Rose
Rubus occidentalis
Family: Rose
Black raspberry
Black raspberry
Common blackberry
Rubus allegheniensis
Family: Rose
"Bramble" refers to raspberry and blackberry bushes. They grow in two forms. The first year branches and leaves are primocanes, and after that floricanes. The primocane leaves of common blackberry have 5 palmate leaflets while the floricanes have 3 or sometimes 1. The branchlets have significant thorns. I note that leaves stay green well into the fall.
Click here for excellent photos and description.
Rubus allegheniensis
Family: Rose
"Bramble" refers to raspberry and blackberry bushes. They grow in two forms. The first year branches and leaves are primocanes, and after that floricanes. The primocane leaves of common blackberry have 5 palmate leaflets while the floricanes have 3 or sometimes 1. The branchlets have significant thorns. I note that leaves stay green well into the fall.
Click here for excellent photos and description.
Elderberry (early one)
Sambucus pubens (Sambucus racemosa)
Family: Honeysuckle
There are two elderberry shrubs, one flowering in May and the other in the summer. These have toothed, compound, opposite leaves with a spray of white flowers.
Click here for excellent photos and description.
Sambucus pubens (Sambucus racemosa)
Family: Honeysuckle
There are two elderberry shrubs, one flowering in May and the other in the summer. These have toothed, compound, opposite leaves with a spray of white flowers.
Click here for excellent photos and description.
Elderberry
Glossy buckthorn
Rhamnus frangula
Genus: Rhamnus
Family: Buckthorn
Glossy buckthorn and common buckthorn are similar. Glossy buckthorn has no thorn at the end of branches, has glossy leaves which are entire and fruit in small clusters. Veins are straight. Common buckthorn has thorns, duller leaves, serrated leaf margins, somewhat curved veins and berries in larger clusters.
Glossy buckthorn is often found in wetland areas - the second photo is from our lakeshore.
Click here for excellent photos and description.
Rhamnus frangula
Genus: Rhamnus
Family: Buckthorn
Glossy buckthorn and common buckthorn are similar. Glossy buckthorn has no thorn at the end of branches, has glossy leaves which are entire and fruit in small clusters. Veins are straight. Common buckthorn has thorns, duller leaves, serrated leaf margins, somewhat curved veins and berries in larger clusters.
Glossy buckthorn is often found in wetland areas - the second photo is from our lakeshore.
Click here for excellent photos and description.
Hobblebush
Viburnum ainifolium
Genus: Viburnum
Family: Honeysuckle
So called because the stems run out at angles that can trip people walking among them. It does not grow tall, leaves are paired and large.
Viburnum ainifolium
Genus: Viburnum
Family: Honeysuckle
So called because the stems run out at angles that can trip people walking among them. It does not grow tall, leaves are paired and large.
Hobblebush
Honeysuckle
Family: Honeysuckle
This may be fly honeysuckle but I am not sure.
Family: Honeysuckle
This may be fly honeysuckle but I am not sure.
Honeysuckle
Leatherleaf
Chamaedaphne calyculata
Family: Heath
Found along lake shores. Underside of thick leaf is brownish.
Click here for excellent photos and description.
Chamaedaphne calyculata
Family: Heath
Found along lake shores. Underside of thick leaf is brownish.
Click here for excellent photos and description.
Leatherleaf
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Leatherleaf (underside)
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Leatherwood
Dirca palustris
Family: Mezereum
What is special about is how pliable the branches are. The leaves are obovate: oval but widest above the middle and without teeth. The bark is a kind of golden olive colour. The leaves turn yellow in the fall and are late in shedding. In 2023, they came down around 26 October.
"Dir'ca: from the Greek dirke, "a fountain," specifically a fountain northwest of Thebes in Boeotia, referring to its moist habitat. The genus Dirca was published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753.
palus'tre/palus'tris: growing in marshes" (Ref 1)
Click here for excellent photos and description.
Dirca palustris
Family: Mezereum
What is special about is how pliable the branches are. The leaves are obovate: oval but widest above the middle and without teeth. The bark is a kind of golden olive colour. The leaves turn yellow in the fall and are late in shedding. In 2023, they came down around 26 October.
"Dir'ca: from the Greek dirke, "a fountain," specifically a fountain northwest of Thebes in Boeotia, referring to its moist habitat. The genus Dirca was published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753.
palus'tre/palus'tris: growing in marshes" (Ref 1)
Click here for excellent photos and description.
Leatherwood
Leatherwood October 10/25 - yellowing begins at edges
Maple-leaved viburnum
Viburnum acerifolium
Genus: Viburnum
This plant looks very much like a maple. The leaves are arranged oppositely as a maple. It is the flowers that are entirely different, blooming in June. The fruit is a red berry rather than a "key" as expected with maple. I see some berries into late October, helping with identification. The leaves also remain long on this shrub, turning a particular pink colour. Because of this it is very visible wherever it is in late October since much else has withered away.
Viburnum acerifolium
Genus: Viburnum
This plant looks very much like a maple. The leaves are arranged oppositely as a maple. It is the flowers that are entirely different, blooming in June. The fruit is a red berry rather than a "key" as expected with maple. I see some berries into late October, helping with identification. The leaves also remain long on this shrub, turning a particular pink colour. Because of this it is very visible wherever it is in late October since much else has withered away.
Maple-leaved viburnum
Maple-leaved viburnum fruit
Mountain-holly
Ilex mucronata
Family: Holly
Leaves are elliptical and entire though some have a few teeth. The midvein is off-center on some leaves and those leaves are also off-elliptical. Petioles are purplish though not always in the spring. Bark is said to be smooth in Shrubs of Ontario but I find it rough. Many trunks and leaning.
Click here for excellent photos and description.
Ilex mucronata
Family: Holly
Leaves are elliptical and entire though some have a few teeth. The midvein is off-center on some leaves and those leaves are also off-elliptical. Petioles are purplish though not always in the spring. Bark is said to be smooth in Shrubs of Ontario but I find it rough. Many trunks and leaning.
Click here for excellent photos and description.
Mountain-holly
Narrow-leaved meadowsweet
Spiraea alba
Family: Rose
This shrub is common along lakeshores.
Click here for excellent photos and description.
Spiraea alba
Family: Rose
This shrub is common along lakeshores.
Click here for excellent photos and description.
Narrow-leaved meadowsweet
Narrow-leaved meadowsweet
Northern bush honeysuckle
Diervilla lonicera
Family: Honeysuckle
This does not look like a shrub but more like a herbaceous plant. It is the only toothed honeysuckle in the area. Leaves are opposite, flowers in pairs at the end of the shoot.
"Diervilla:
Lonic'era: named for Adam Lonitzer (Lonicer, Lonicerus) (1528-1586), a German herbalist, physician and botanist who revised a standard herbal text dating from 1533 that was reprinted many times between 1557 and 1783. The son of a theologian and philologist, and a professor of theology and ancient languages at Marburg, Johannes Lonicerus, Adam was born at Marburg and studied there and at the University of Mainz, obtaining a Magister degree at the age of sixteen. In 1553 he became a professor of mathematics at the Lutheran University of Marburg and received a Doctor of Medicine the following year, becoming the town physician of Frankfurt-am-Main. His true interest was herbs and the study of botany. His first major work was Naturalis historiae opus novum, published in 1551. This was followed by the Kreuterbuch, published in 1557, which was a compilation of work done by Dr. Eucharius Rosslin, Jean Ruelle, Valerius Cordus, Pietro Andrea Mattioli, Hieronymus Braunschweig and Conrad Gessner. This book was an amalgam of scientific fact, anecdotal knowledge, tall stories, and medieval herbal tradition, and included references to fictitious plants and animals, but was immensely popular right up to the 19th century. The genus Lonicera was published in his honor in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus." (Ref 1)
Click here for excellent photos and description.
Diervilla lonicera
Family: Honeysuckle
This does not look like a shrub but more like a herbaceous plant. It is the only toothed honeysuckle in the area. Leaves are opposite, flowers in pairs at the end of the shoot.
"Diervilla:
Lonic'era: named for Adam Lonitzer (Lonicer, Lonicerus) (1528-1586), a German herbalist, physician and botanist who revised a standard herbal text dating from 1533 that was reprinted many times between 1557 and 1783. The son of a theologian and philologist, and a professor of theology and ancient languages at Marburg, Johannes Lonicerus, Adam was born at Marburg and studied there and at the University of Mainz, obtaining a Magister degree at the age of sixteen. In 1553 he became a professor of mathematics at the Lutheran University of Marburg and received a Doctor of Medicine the following year, becoming the town physician of Frankfurt-am-Main. His true interest was herbs and the study of botany. His first major work was Naturalis historiae opus novum, published in 1551. This was followed by the Kreuterbuch, published in 1557, which was a compilation of work done by Dr. Eucharius Rosslin, Jean Ruelle, Valerius Cordus, Pietro Andrea Mattioli, Hieronymus Braunschweig and Conrad Gessner. This book was an amalgam of scientific fact, anecdotal knowledge, tall stories, and medieval herbal tradition, and included references to fictitious plants and animals, but was immensely popular right up to the 19th century. The genus Lonicera was published in his honor in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus." (Ref 1)
Click here for excellent photos and description.
Northern bush honeysuckle
Prickly gooseberry
Prickly gooseberry
Prickly gooseberry -
atypically, stalk is very spiny. This is said to occur in young plants. Leaves are larger too. This was growing along with typical prickly gooseberry. I think it is a young plant of the same species.
Pussy willow
Salix discolor
Family: Willow
Willows are difficult to differentiate. This is a best estimate.
Click here for excellent photos and description.
Salix discolor
Family: Willow
Willows are difficult to differentiate. This is a best estimate.
Click here for excellent photos and description.
Pussy willow
Pussy willow
Pussy willow
Pussy willow leaves
Riverbank grape
Riverbank grape
Sage-leaved willow
Salix candida
Family: Willow
Willows are hard to differentiate. This is a best estimate.
Click here for excellent photos and description.
Salix candida
Family: Willow
Willows are hard to differentiate. This is a best estimate.
Click here for excellent photos and description.
Sage-leaved willow
Sage-leaved willow
Sage-leaved willow
Staghorn sumach
Rhus typhina
Family: Cashew
The photo below was taken late in the year.
Click here for excellent photos and description.
Rhus typhina
Family: Cashew
The photo below was taken late in the year.
Click here for excellent photos and description.
Staghorn sumac
Sweet gale
Myrica gale
Family: Bayberry
The crushed leaves give off a pleasant aroma. Lake shores often together with leatherleaf.
"My'rica: derived from the Greek name myrike for tamarisk, and a plant whose fruit has a greasy covering that provides the aromatic tallow from which bayberry candles are made. The genus Myrica was published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753." (Ref 1)
Click here for excellent photos and description.
Myrica gale
Family: Bayberry
The crushed leaves give off a pleasant aroma. Lake shores often together with leatherleaf.
"My'rica: derived from the Greek name myrike for tamarisk, and a plant whose fruit has a greasy covering that provides the aromatic tallow from which bayberry candles are made. The genus Myrica was published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753." (Ref 1)
Click here for excellent photos and description.
Sweet gale
Upland willow (Prairie willow)
Salix humilis
Family: Willow
Also known as small pussy willow, the collectible catkins appear very early (April) with the leaves unfolding only in later May. Leaves have spatulate shape, widest above center. Willows are difficult to identify with certainty. This identification is tentative.
Click here for excellent photos and description.
Salix humilis
Family: Willow
Also known as small pussy willow, the collectible catkins appear very early (April) with the leaves unfolding only in later May. Leaves have spatulate shape, widest above center. Willows are difficult to identify with certainty. This identification is tentative.
Click here for excellent photos and description.
Upland willow - leaves unfolding
Virgin's bower
Clematis virginiana
Family: Buttercup
Clematis virginiana
Family: Buttercup
Virgin's bower - seen at Parc Nakkertok
Wild gooseberry
Ribes hirtellum
Family: Gooseberry
There are several species of gooseberry and currant that are difficult to tell apart. The white undersurface of this wild gooseberry is almost furry.
Click here for excellent photos and description.
Ribes hirtellum
Family: Gooseberry
There are several species of gooseberry and currant that are difficult to tell apart. The white undersurface of this wild gooseberry is almost furry.
Click here for excellent photos and description.
Wild gooseberry
Wild red raspberry
Rubus idaeus
Family: Rose
"Bramble" refers to raspberry and blackberry bushes. They grow in two forms. The first year branches and leaves are primocanes, and after that floricanes. The primocanes of wild red raspberry have 3, 5 or 7 leaflets while the florcanes have 3. In this species, the middle pair of leaflets is closer to the terminal leaflet than it is to the pair below. The branchlets have weak bristles and here are almost always purple in colour. I note that leaves stay green well into the fall.
Rubus idaeus
Family: Rose
"Bramble" refers to raspberry and blackberry bushes. They grow in two forms. The first year branches and leaves are primocanes, and after that floricanes. The primocanes of wild red raspberry have 3, 5 or 7 leaflets while the florcanes have 3. In this species, the middle pair of leaflets is closer to the terminal leaflet than it is to the pair below. The branchlets have weak bristles and here are almost always purple in colour. I note that leaves stay green well into the fall.
Wild red raspberry
Winterberry
Ilex verticillata
Family: Holly
I believe this is a correct identification but am not entirely sure. Red berries closely held among rather glossy leaves about the size of blueberry leaves, mildly toothed, hairs on midrib on the undersurface under the microscope. The leaves are dark green, lighter on the underside. Notable is the taper at the proximal end toward the petiole and most are obovate. I split open one berry and found six small nutlet-like seeds of irregular shape which seems to match web pictures. Some sources say there is 1 nutlet per berry, another says 2-5 and another says 2 or more. I spotted these just in from a lake shoreline.
Ilex verticillata
Family: Holly
I believe this is a correct identification but am not entirely sure. Red berries closely held among rather glossy leaves about the size of blueberry leaves, mildly toothed, hairs on midrib on the undersurface under the microscope. The leaves are dark green, lighter on the underside. Notable is the taper at the proximal end toward the petiole and most are obovate. I split open one berry and found six small nutlet-like seeds of irregular shape which seems to match web pictures. Some sources say there is 1 nutlet per berry, another says 2-5 and another says 2 or more. I spotted these just in from a lake shoreline.
Winterberry
Winterberry leaf
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Winterberry including seeds
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Reference 1: Meanings of the Latin names are taken in almost all cases from: "California Plant Names: Latin and Greek Meanings and Derivations" by Michael L Charters