European buckthorn
Published by espringer,
There are two of these trees in the northwest strip of the park between the riven and Rte 157. The berries are smooth and almost black, the leaves have dogwood-like veins, and the branching pattern seems opposite. Bark looks a bit like some kind of birch near the base. As best I can tell, this is European buckthorn, introduced in the 1700s and now naturalized throughout New England. Buckthorn generally grows as a shrub, but one of these two plants seems well-established as a small tree.
As it always seems to happen whenever I spend time trying to document an unknown tree, the dog has used the opportunity to find some perfume with which to adorn himself…
