Berries:           (poisonous)

The chart above shows the months the berry may be seen, and it's progression from inception (green) to ripeness (red) going through both yellow and orange in progression. This means that berries of all these colours can be found.

Sometimes the colours are shown as:

which indicates that at any time either a green berry can be found, or with all the colours from green to red (with intermediates such as white and yellowish) on one berry, or just red berries.

Othertimes two colours may be separated by a slash, as in:
 / 
Which means that the berries can be either purple or black, depending upon the plant specimen.

Berries which are meant to be eaten by animals or birds are often brightly coloured and non-toxic to the targeted species and are usually red because that is the near-complimentary colour of the green foliage. They will be conspicuously obvious. The seeds within the berries are usually hard and indigestible and are later excreted to potentially grow into a new plant some distance away from the parent(s). Note that many red berries (such as those of Guelder-Rose) are poisonous to humans; they are not the targeted species for their consumption. Berries which are darker coloured (such as black) and inconspicuous are usually poisonous and not intended to be eaten by anything - think Henbane or Deadly Nightshade. Any species which eats them will soon learn not to do so! As always, there are exceptions to these general rules. Both the blue-black Bilberries and Blackberries (an aggregate fruit) are edible by both humans and most animals.

A berry, botanically, is a fleshy fruit produced from a single ovary. In the centre are one or several seeds. Some are edible and delightful (such as Bilberry), others are edible but sour or acrid, some are edible in small numbers only (Guelder-rose), some are poisonous but edible after cooking (such as Elderberry), whilst others are inedible due either to their excessive astringency (Blackthorn), excessive hardness or poisonous nature (Henbane). Grapes are included in the botanical definition of a berry, but citrus fruit, such as Lemon, Lime, Orange and Grapefruit which have a thick rind and a very juicy interior, are not. Other fruits such as apples and pears are pomes, not berries. Aggregate fruits contain seeds from several ovaries, such as Blackberry, Dewberry and Raspberry.

However, for the purpose of this website, a broader definition of 'berry' is taken: if it 'looks' like a berry to the average person and is so named in common parlance (for example - its name ends in 'berry' - such as does 'Strawberry'), then it is included in the berry list [but with a proviso in brackets, such as (a pome), (a fruit) or (an aril]. Neither Apples nor Pears look like berries (and are not berries botanically either) so are not included in the 'berry' list.

For a detailed description of berries, fruits, drupes, pomes and others see  Berry

BERRIES  BOTANICAL BERRIES Barberry GuelderRose Snowberry Lords-and-Ladies  COMMON PARLANCE 'BERRIES' Yew (an aril) Spindle (a fruit) Strawberry (an accessory fruit) Dewberry (an aggregate fruit)