Thanks, any thoughts as to which viburnum and which rose that might be? Thanks

Some indication of shrub size and type of location (soil moisture, sun, disturbance level, etc.) in which they are growing might help with ID.

I think that the first photo is probably V. trilobum, AKA American cranberry Viburnum based on what I can see of the stems along with the berries.

On the second photo, I see rose stems in there, but can't tell if the berries are attached to the rose stems. Can you take a photo where you have pulled one of the stems out to lie along the ground so that the focus is better? The way the berries are growing along with your description of the berries being "pretty much all over the place" makes me think Berberis/barberry, but I can't see the stems well enough to judge.

Babs,

both shrubs were tall and lanky, perhaps 8-10 feet. Both were near a stream edge (but up the embankment - not actually in the water). I forget the exact details as it was a 6 mile forest hike so I passed a lot of stuff. Growing nearby to both plants was a large amount of mountain laurel.

i think around here we don't have v trilobum, only v opulus which is very similar looking. Perhaps this one showed up somehow.

for the other one the berries are definitely NOT on the stems with the thorns. Those are in the background. Right now based what I remember of the look I'm imagining they are a "spice bush" but that's my speculation.

neither bush had any leaves left.

I too was curious about the second photo. The word 'dangling would not apply to rose hips. The shape is certainly Berberis-like. But we have no sense of scale nor can we see the actual stems the berries are attached to. There appears to be a twining vine in the picture but I can't see if the berries belong to that.

You all are correct, sorry I wasn't familiar with American (Canadian) berberis... Looks exactly like it... Anyone know where I can buy some of these? (Online)

In my area most of the Berberis in the woods are invasive Japanese barberry, not the native ones, though I have seen a native one once. One of the problems with invasive plants is that they have appealing fruit, which the birds eat and poop out in other places, often wild or disturbed areas where they compete with native plants. So it could be a non-native barberry, or a native one, or I suppose spice bush though I think that is less probable to my eye.

The Viburnum could be either trilobum or opulus or some other type with which I am not familiar, either native to your area or a garden escapee via the birds.

FYI NHBabs, in looking up V. trilobum last week I found it was reclassified as Viburnum opulus var. americana -- and the folks at Cornell would know: http://www.fruit.cornell.edu/mfruit/cranberries.html

#2 - I saw "spicebush" mentioned. Definitely not that. I know the plant well. The berries would be scented/have a spicy taste as it was sometimes used as a substitute of allspice --- NOT that I recommend tasting anything not 100% ID'd.

In the 2nd picture it was hard for me to tell what the berries were hanging from. I do see what looks like rose canes in the image - green with backwards thorns. Are those attached to the same plant the berries are on?

If it is berberis, I would be very careful. As NHBabs mentioned, the non-native varieties are invasive. If colorful winter berries are what you intend, there are many native plants that offer that as well as plants that are more well behaved like Rosa gallica that has berries (aka hips) that are pretty much exactly the same shape as the ones you found on this plant.

Fata: thanks for your comments!

these berries are not on the green thorned stalks... Those are just background plants... These red berries are hanging from the brown branches. For example, all the red berries at center-left of the photo are hanging below that dark brown branch running right to left 2 inches above them. These berries are clustered in groups of 3-5 and hang from this stem with thin, well, let's say they look like little cherries, each one has the thin stalk thing that attaches/hangs it from the branch.

after further reading, it seems like it's near impossible to buy a native berberis. And it's nearly gone from the wild. I looked it up in Dirr and it seems like the native one doesn't even get listed. Some online writings allude to the existence of some extant patches somewhere in the blue ridge mountains but no detailed location info is available, even if one wanted to try to collect seeds and start some at home.

what other native bushes (that can grow in shade) have colorful winter berries like that? (Other than holly and etc... Would like something perhaps uncommon)

thank you

Matt, How full is the shade where you want to plant these? Would you be interested in a small tree or only shrubs in the 6'-8' range?

You might want to post this question on the shrub forum as well.

Here is a link to a book I loved when I lived in West Virginia.