Identify by feature
Tree or shrub with orange berries: which one is it?
A tree with clusters of orange-red berries is usually a rowan or a whitebeam; a shrub with orange berries packed along the twigs is a sea buckthorn, and a thorny hedge shrub with orange or red berries a firethorn.
10 species with this feature
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Rowan Sorbus aucuparia
Broadleaf tree
Clusters of orange-red berries from August; a feast for thrushes.
Native
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Whitebeam Sorbus aria
Broadleaf tree
Orange-red to scarlet berries (1–1.5 cm) with small pale speckles, in autumn.
Native
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Firethorn Pyracantha
Shrub
Orange, red or yellow berries in dense clusters, lasting well into winter.
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Sea buckthorn Hippophae rhamnoides
Shrub
Orange, sour berries (6–8 mm) crowded along the branches, rich in vitamin C; only on female plants.
Native
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Sweet-briar Rosa rubiginosa
Shrub
Oval, orange-red hips (1.5–2 cm), often with glandular hairs on the stalk, in September–October.
Native
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Spindle Euonymus europaeus
Shrub
Pink, four-lobed capsules that split open to reveal orange seeds (autumn); poisonous.
NativePoisonous
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Duke of Argyll’s teaplant Lycium barbarum
Shrub
Elongated orange-red berries (1–2 cm), August–October: the goji berry.
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Japanese wineberry Rubus phoenicolasius
Shrub
Glossy, orange-red berries like small raspberries, July–August; until they ripen, they are enclosed in the calyx.
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Bittersweet Solanum dulcamara
Climber
Oval berries (1 cm), green at first, then orange and glossy red when ripe, often all colours in one cluster, August–October; poisonous.
NativePoisonous
Tip: Rowan has pinnate leaves, whitebeam a brilliant white leaf underside. Small pink fruits that split open to show orange seeds belong to the spindle, which is poisonous.