A picnic lunch in Shenandoah National Park and taking in all the beauty.

A pleasant surprise, this tree, 15 feet or more tall, covered with these scarlet berries or drupes.

This is a Winterberry (Ilex verticillata). A deciduous species of Holly (Ilex) that most often is seen as a shrub but this one is a small tree.

The drupes are stunning against the green leaves but in autumn the leaves fall, leaving the bright red drupes alone against the bare branches.

The drupes are low in fat and are not a bird’s first choice, leaving them until later in winter when other sources of food are scarce.

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