What kind of berry is this, they are small, round and purple, and grow on a tree that it almost 50 feet tall?

Question

I work at a golf course in Western North Carolina. I have noticed these trees that are very large, about 40 to 50 feet tall. They have toothed leaves and the berries are about the size of a small blue berry. They are red to begin with and ripen to a dark purple. I have searched every where and there seems to be nothing even close to what it is. I thought it might be a service berry but the tree is much much too big for it to be, and it is not a mulberry. I ask because there seem to be thousands of berries on the tree and if they are edible it would be a feast. If it helps I have noticed that the berries ripen in late june to early july. Any help would be great

Answer 1

First thought was hackberry..berry is edible but thinking they ripen later in year...post a pic of the leaves

Answer 2

My guess would be hackberry.

Answer 3

It sure sounds like serviceberry to me.  The timing is right and your description of the fruit color is right.  All the fruits on a stem cluster usually do not ripen at once and you could have green, red, and purple ones on one cluster.  I have seen some awfully tall ones.  My sister has one on the corner of her house that is well above the peak of the second-story roof.

Amelanchier fruits taste a lot like blueberries too.  If you can get any picked before the robins get to them -- make a pie.  It is a bit less sweet and more seedy than a blueberry but delicious nonetheless.  If you can obtain some blueberries at the same time, a mix improves the result.

Would you describe the leaves as rounded ovals?  Amelanchier is somewhat toothed but the serrations are quite small and the overall look is rounded.  Bark can be silvery on young branches and develop into almost black with age.  Flowers are profuse and white, in clusters, and bloom later than cherry trees but before the leaves emerge.  Fall color - golden yellow to possibly amazingly brilliant orange and red tones on sun-grown trees.  They are shade tolerant though and could be taller and narrower in the woods but then would produce less fruit.  

Take a sample of the foliage to a local garden center - they will know what it is.

Answer 4

Elderberries?  Sambuca species, many of them,

Take a branch and the berries to a nursery for identification. the link below shows berries.

They have to be cooked ... some people get nauseated if thye eat raw ones.

Answer 5

I believe it might be an American Wild Cherry tree. Here is a link to a picture. Does it look like this?...

http://www.assateague.com/cherry.html    

:)