What species of shrub is this (UK)?

It might not be native. It is one of only a couple of such plants growing next to the canal, near my village in Leicestershire, England.


Here's a picture:


http://i16.tinypic.com/6b4mnhg.jpg

What species of shrub is this (UK)?
It is definetly European buckthorn. These berries are poisenous. In my field site i have seen these shrubs.





Ecological Threat: Buckthorn grows quickly and out-competes other plants for nutrients and water. Also, its shade creates a good habitat for garlic mustard.





Identification: Tall shrubs to small trees that range up to 25 feet high and 10 inches in diameter. Bark is grayish. Leave are dull, oval-shaped, and alternate on the branches. Berries are black.
Reply:Doesn't look like a native plant to me!





Probably something that somebody has dug up out of their garden and thrown away.





Take some leaves to your local garden centre and see if they can identify it for you.
Reply:prunus laurocerasus- cherry laurel
Reply:Some kind of laurel? - that's what it looks like to me
Reply:It is definitely a British shrub; ALDER-BUCKTHORN. Frangula Alnus. Height 5m. A rather open,thornless bush,native to damp to hedgegrows and scrub in England and Wales.Oval leaves with wavy margins;dark green,turning yellow in autumn. Pale green,5 petalled flowers appear in May. Berries ripen fom green to black. Dont try eating them.
Reply:Rhamnus cathartica also known as (Common) Buckthorn or Purging Buckthorn, is a species in the family Rhamnaceae.





It is spreading weed and headache in some localities .





http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/co...





http://images.google.co.in/imgres?imgurl...





http://www.columbia.edu/itc/cerc/danoff-...





http://www.2otter.com/buckthorn/buckthor...





http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/icm/files...





Whosoever identified as 'Buckthorn' FIRST deserves due credit.
Reply:Thought it may be elderberry, but not enough berries, so sorry, do not know.
Reply:Its Rhamnus catharticus (Purging Buckthorn) - common especially on chalky soil in southern England.
Reply:It looks like Dogwood Cornus sanguinea or possibly one of the other related plants, it requires quite careful examination to tell them apart. It has reddish stems and twigs and black berries when they are ripe.





Cornus sanguinea is native in the UK, most of Europe and parts of Asia.