QuestionQUESTION: I found a tree behind our house in Greenville SC. It has rough bark, simple oval leaves about 3-4" long and small dark bluish/black berries. They look similar to blueberries, but more oval shape. The berries are on stems about 2-3" long - one berry per stem. The tree is about 25 ft tall. Thanks
ANSWER: It sounds like a black cherry but other tree can fit this description. Without a picture it is hard to describe a tree. You can attach a picture to the question and i will see if I can ID it. or you could call the local office of the S.C. Forestry Commission and ask one of their Forester to come take a look and they can ID it better looking at the tree. Their phone number should be in your local book. Here is a web link to these numbers.
http://www.state.sc.us/forest/grvl.htm
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unknown tree
QUESTION: I don't think its a black cherry, I have several of those and the fruit is closer together. The fruit smells like a locust bean when I open it - also it has very little flesh and large single seed. See pics... Thanks again
AnswerBlack Tupelo, Blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica) would be my guess. It may not be sylvatica but may be another Nyssa species but resembles it.
here is a web link to information on Blackgum.
http://www.cnr.vt.edu/DENDRO/DENDROLOGY/SYLLABUS/factsheet.cfm?ID=60