To recognize wineberry, check for opposite, ovate leaves with finely toothed edges, usually 1-3 inches (2.5-7.5 cm) long, on slender branching stems.
It typically grows as a many-stemmed shrub or small tree, often with smooth gray bark, and bears small, five-petaled flowers in short clusters from the leaf axils.
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Check Aristotelia serrata for a small tree form with opposite, toothed leaves.
Use the opposite leaves and clustered dark berries together for the quickest field check.
Aristotelia serrata shows clear visual shifts from young growth to fruiting branches.
In spring, Aristotelia serrata leafs out with fresh green foliage, and small flowers become visible around late spring to early summer. Flowering can help confirm the plant when leaves are fully expanded. By late summer to fall, clusters of berries turn dark purple to nearly black and stand out against the foliage. In colder areas, leaves drop in fall, leaving a finer branching outline visible through winter.
A few small berry-bearing shrubs or trees can be mistaken for Aristotelia serrata at a glance.
mahoe(Melicytus ramiflorus)
Both can form small trees with simple toothed leaves and purple-black berries. Mahoe usually has thicker, paler leaves and small flowers and fruits borne along older stems, not mainly in branched clusters toward the tips.
fuchsia tree(Fuchsia excorticata)
It can suggest the same loose, small-tree shape and dark fruit. The quickest check is the flower and berry form: Fuchsia has long tubular flowers and elongated berries, while Aristotelia serrata has small starry flowers and round berries.
Aristotelia serrata is native to New Zealand. It occurs through much of the country in lowland and montane forest, forest margins, scrub, and disturbed ground, including stream edges and slips. That setting can help narrow identification. In New Zealand, a small tree or large shrub appearing in secondary woodland, bush edges, or regrowth after disturbance is more likely to be this species than a plant of dry open grassland or alpine habitats.
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Flowers are usually borne in small branched clusters from the leaf axils, the point where leaf stalks meet the stem. This arrangement helps with Aristotelia serrata identification when flowers are present.
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