The following list is of trees whose brightly-colored fruits are usually decorative for some time after the leaves have fallen. Birds soon attack and strip the berries on a number of kinds almost as soon as they are ripe, but the following are less severely attacked. With some trees, berries are only borne on female trees; in many instances nurserymen can select these.
CERCIS SILIQUASTRUM The Judas tree carries red and purple pods from late summer far into the winter.
COTONEASTER FRIGIDUS Heavy crops of clusters of rich bright red are borne in autumn and early winter.
CRATAEGUS All the thorns carry crops of haws, the more striking including C. durobrivensis with large red fruit lasting well into winter; C. lavallei has large orange-red berries that hang into the new year; C. mollis, the red haw, has very large red fruits which drop rather early to make a spectacular carpet under the tree; C. orientalis has large oval or yellowish-red fruits; C. prunifolia has large, red fruits, combined with crimson autumn foliage; C. punctata has large, slightly pear shaped dull crimson fruits; C. wattiana, the Altai Mountain thorn, has large, translucent, yellow fruit.
CYDONIA OBLONGA The common quince, has golden fruit which combine effectively with the yellow autumnal leaves.
EVODIA HUPEHENSIS Female trees bear clusters of scarlet berries.
IDESIA POLYCARPA Female trees carry bunches of bright red berries in autumn.
ILEX x ALTACLARENSIS I. aquifolium the hollies, are among Britain’s most beautiful berrying trees, though fruiting only on female trees. I. a. bacciflava (fructu-luteo) has yellow berries.
MALUS The crab-apples, mostly carry fruit. The best include the following:
M. x alden-hamensis, fruit numerous small, deep purple; M. eleyi, bright crimson; M. ‘Gibb’s Golden Gage’, waxy yellow fruit; M. `Golden Hornet’, bright yellow fruit hanging late; M. `John Downie’, large, narrow fruits, yellow with red flush, flavour good; M. prunifolia and its cultivars, ‘Cheal’s Crimson’, fastigiata, pendula and `Rinki’ have red fruits hanging long on the tree; M. purpurea has light. crimson fruit; M. robusta, the cherry apple or Siberian crab, has,heavy crops of longlasting small fruits, the two cultivars being `Red Siberian’ and ‘Yellow Siberian’; M. `Wisley Crab’ has large, deep-red fruit.
PRUNUS though some of this genus, eg, cherries, carry attractive fruit, they are eaten by birds even before ripening. SORBUS The mountain ashes and whitebeams often have decorative berries, but on most species they are eaten at an early stage by birds. The following are usually exceptions: S. cashmeriana, large, glistening white, hanging late; S. esserteauiana, very large clusters of small scarlet, or in (lava, yellow fruit, hanging late; S. hupehensis, large clusters of small white fruit, turning pink, and hanging late; S. `Joseph Rock’ has amber-colored, long-lasting berries; S. sargentiana has great clusters of small, orange-red berries; S. scalaris has bright red, small fruits.
