Red-berried dogwoods and the mystery street trees
We have a dogwood in the yard. Spring brings lots of white or pink “petals” (technically bracts). In autumn the leaves redden and bright berries appear, attracting sparrows, jays, and starlings.
Spotting red berries along the road
Driving around, I kept seeing street trees heavy with red berries—even in colder areas where our dogwood had already dropped leaves. Were they the same species? Probably not, so I looked it up.
Likely Japanese holly (クロガネモチ)
Research (and similar Q&A threads) points to Japanese holly. It’s used as a garden tree but also as a street tree because it tolerates salt spray and pollution.
クロガネモチが金持ちに通じるので縁起木として庭木にする。 — Wikipedia
The name sounds like “money tree,” so some people plant it for luck—fun bit of wordplay.
Different families (and a taxonomy itch)
- Dogwood: Cornales → Cornaceae → Cornus (ミズキ目ミズキ科ミズキ属)
- Japanese holly: Celastrales → Aquifoliaceae → Ilex (ニシキギ目モチノキ科モチノキ属)
Different branches entirely. I’ve always wanted to read more about how these taxonomic lines get drawn—another day.
Aquifoliaceae bark contains a super-sticky gum once used to make birdlime. The kanji 黐 (“mochi”) points to that stickiness; the “mochi” rice cake sense came later. Making birdlime was slow: harvest bark in spring, soak it in running water until autumn, then process.
The Gundam “torimochi launcher” pops into my head here—its real-world root is this gluey trap for birds and insects.
Bird catchers
“鳥刺し” were hunters who used birdlime to catch small birds alive for food or pets, and sometimes to supply falconers. Same trapping idea, just stickier than bows or guns.
Closing
Curiosity about red berries sent me from garden dogwoods to sticky holly sap. There are plenty of other red-berried trees; outside city centers you can find many more. Hokkaido plants rowan (ナナカマド) as a street tree—both leaves and berries go vivid red. I’ll keep an eye out next trip north.
北海道の街路樹 「ナナカマド」
