How can you tell which berries on trees are edible?

Yea, if you can give me a picture or a really thorough description, I can probably tell you what it is. Essentially, it’s just a matter or learning individual types of trees.

Were the leaves by chance silvery on the bottom?

@incendiary_dan Yes, they were silvery at the bottom. I totally remember the tree. I should have taken a picture because I can’t find it on the internet.

I almost look like a Willow tree, and had berries or something on it that looked like acorns. A squirrel was eating off of it, which is why I assumed they were acorns, but obviously they weren’t. It was really tall and had a thick tree trunk. It had thin silvery leaves and had white flowers on it as well.

Can I eat it?

My suspicion is that it’s autumn olive, which would mean it’s highly edible. Does that look familiar? If so, just wait until the fruits are ripe, which happens in most places in early autumn. Anyway, it’s a good tree to learn, because they grow everywhere now (invasive) and produce thousands of fruits that are easy to pick. They’re also highly nutritious, with around 16 times the lycopene concentration as tomatoes.

That’s it! Well, it was the tree next to the one I was talking about. The one that I was talking about had thin leaves. Like, really thin. But, this tree looks so familiar, and it was in the park next to the one I’m talking about.

@blueberry_kid take a picture of the tree and berries and send it to us

If I ever go back to that park. It’s in North Carolina. I’m in Ohio.

We have not developed an instinct by looking an the berries. The knowledge is part of our cultural heritage. Oral traditions. Then books.

But there’s the taste instinct. Too bitter? We spit it out.

Makes sense.