Natural History

Coralberry

Coralberry is an abundant shrub in some of the forests at the Nature Park.

Classsification:
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Dipsacales
Family: Caprifoliaceae
Genus species: Symphoricarpos orbiculatus

Leaves:
Leaves are round, some with one or two lobes at the base.
Leaves are 1.5 to 5 cm long.

Flowers:
Flowers are small, greenish-white to pink, in small clusters at the ends of stems.

Fruit:
Fruits are coral-pink or red berries, 1 to 2 cm in diameter, soft. 
Coralberry is the only member of this genus that produces pink or red fruits.
Fruits ripen in September-November, and are dispersed between November and May.
Fruit is a drupe.  The outer portion of the fruit is fleshy.  The inner portion of the fruit is hard and fibrous. 

Leaves
Leaves are oval or circular.
Leaves are opposite, simple.
Leaves are 1.5 to 5 cm long.
Edges of leaves are smooth or have rounded teeth or scallops.
Leaves usually softly hairy beneath.

Seeds
Each fruit usually has two fertile seeds. 
The seeds are convex on one side and almost flat on the other site.
Seeds germinate during spring after the second or third year of maturation.
Seeds must be exposed to warm summer then cold winter temperatures to germinate.

Roots
Coralberry spreads extensively by rhizomes.

Habitat
Occurs in disturbed and second-growth forests in upland and lowland areas. 

Important shrub in middle to late stages of primary succession in limestone glades of middle Tennessee.

Sources

Hidayata, S.N., J.M. Baskin, and C.C. Baskin.  2001.  Dormancy-breaking and germination requirements for seeds of Symphoricarpos orbiculatus (Caprifoliaceae).  American Journal of Botany 88:1444-1451.