If you have a shady spot where nothing else will grow, I'd suggest moving rather than discarding the wineberry. I think they're quite delicious, and they're incredibly easy to grow. I planted mine a couple of years ago on the north side of my two-story house -- at most, they get an hour of early morning sun and an hour of late afternoon sun. Nonetheless, they've grown and spread prolifically (they'll tip root if you let them), and are producing a very large crop this spring. For me, they're the ideal worry free fruiting plant -- no insect or disease problems to speak of, birds don't seem to bother them so I don't have to put up netting, they require very little sun to thrive, and they're reasonably drought tolerant once established.

I never saw the flowers even though I make it a point of hiking through this area regularly. Due to the chewed off tops, it is quite possible if I had visited a few days or a week later I may not have seen these plants either. bboy - not sure if you are referring to the plant's odd name or if you think they were eaten by horses, but on that note, while I was looking up info about "horse gentain" it was noted that nobody really knows why it was given this name :-)

I see that now, as I read, thanks. The leaves reminded me so much of a crown of thorns house plant I used to have, but I know that house plant does not get berries.

Pokeberry has long old drupes of berries and is edible if you get the leaves young and boil it a few times. This is Deadly Nightshade and will kill ya! Here's a pokeberry pic. I love pokeberry. It's invasive and all but the birds LOVE it so it's fitting with my aggressive native xeriscape. Here is a link that might be useful: pokeberry