Crown of Thorns

Description:

This shrub is in the middle of the fall leave changing from a dark green to an almost maroon at this point. This particular plant was quite tall (this is above eye level, so maybe 5 ft. tall here).

Habitat:

Found in gardens and in yards as a decorative shrub.

Notes:

None of the Crown of Thorn plants I saw on the internet looked like the one I have out back and around the corner so I am unable to identify what kind of Crown of Thorns I am looking at. The berries alternate all the way up the branches and all the plants I have seen have the flowers all on the tip of the branch. Also, I could not find leaves that looked or sounded like the kind on these particular plants I am talking about. Crown of Thorns seems to be a plant that has a base and then long branches grow up and/or out from that point, and in the case above, reached quite high. They are not plants you can guarantee will grow all nice in one direction either. I am hoping that the Crown of Thorns I have out in my own back yard comes back after the landlord took a chainsaw to it recently while he was taking down the huge dead maple next to it. (It is not big enough at all to require a chainsaw, so you can imagine the jagged twigs it left behind. I can groom it with a pair of rugged scissors.) I am hoping to be able to transplant it.