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NATIVE RANGE: North America
FIRST FINDING IN SLOVENIA: 2000
PATHWAYS: horticulture
POSSIBLE TO FIND: yearround
FLOWERING SEASON: June – September
DESCRIPTION: Medium-sized deciduous shrub with erect, branches with a hollow pith. Leaves opposite, oval but with variable, entire to lobed margins. Leaves are green above, greyish-green below with small hairs at least on veins. Flowers small, pinkish-white, bell-shaped, borne in terminal clusters. Most easily distinguished by the fruits, which are round, white, berry-like drupes, about 1 cm in diameter. They develop from the end of summer till autumn and persist throughout winter.
HABITAT: Forest, woodlands, forest margins, floodplains and riverbanks on a variety of soils.
STATUS: The species is locally naturalized throughout Europe as a result of its long history as garden and hedging plant.
SIMILAR SPECIES: Coralberry (Symphoricarpos orbi-culatus) does not have hollow twigs, its flowers are greenish to purple and its drupes are red to purple. Hybrid coralberry (Symphoricarpos x chenaultii) is usually lower and has intensely pink berries. Snowmound (Spiraea nipponica) has similarly shaped leaves, but these are placed alternate. Red-osier dogwood (Cornus sericea) has white berries but larger leaves and reddish bark.
SOURCE: Field Guide to Invasive Alien Species in European Forests