Thanks everyone! I think it might be the leatherwood. I have a second photo of the berries, where it shows the twig it is growing on better. The leaves are alternate. I think my plant looks a lot like this picture I found of a leatherwood, . What do you think?

1. May be black cherry? Keys were bark and leaves borne on short spur branches. 2. Beautyberry--if so, this is considered invasive in Northern IL. 3. Definitely lilac, don't know specific cultivar. 4. Buckthorn--key id is alternate veination in leaves That's all I've got at the moment.

Hi there, neighbor to the north. Vashon Island here. Going with the natives? Small trees: Vine maple, Indian plum also called sand plum, a small tree about the size of vine maple - white flowers just starting to bloom right now and very pretty. And you must plant the native dogwood with the greenish white flowers - tall slim and gray barked, grows in sun or shade, a beauty. Cornus nuttalii. There's a native currant that is large enough to almost be a small tree, with pretty pink flowers. What about the eastern Washington elderberry with the blue berries? It is GORGEOUS and delicious. About a 30 foot tree. Likes to grow by water over there, but we're so moist here you can grow anywhere. These are all doing very well in my forest edge garden here, and I do nothing to care for them - they're all adapted. Shrubs: Evergreen huckleberry (beautiful), Snowberry, and my favorite: Thimbleberry - Grow a thicket of these and you'll smell the lemony scent of their leaves several feet away, they have pretty white flowers that look like strawberry blossoms in May, and they fruit in July - to my mind the most delicious berry - a winey flavor that lingers on the tongue. Not as many berries as rasp or black, but far tastier And a clump of these is really attractive with something growing in front - they have bare legs. What about a hedge or clump of salmonberries? They look scraggy in the winter, but in summer they are light green and fresh, and they are the staple food of hummingbirds around here in March - ours always attract the hummers & then we supplement with feeders by the window to watch the birds

Dirca palustris.