Also has one or two blue/black berries. Its on a plot of land I've been given to play with ;-)

Probably a Black thorn

Doesn't look like blackthorn to me, MG. I'd have said cotoneaster, from the look of the leaves.

I did a google check ... so far as I am aware Cotoneaster does not have thorns - but given the nasty pm's I hav received recently what do I know!

What! You've had nasty PM's too? (I haven't but I read that someone else had - from a now-deleted member) Sorry to hear it.

Weeellll...Cotoneaster has alternate leaves, not opposite leaves, like this. Having a hard time figuring out what it could be, though. Sorry to hear about the bad PM's. I've been to busy to get online much lately, so I have missed it. Hopefully, deleting that member stops that.

Yes it seems that nasty pm's are the norm right now...

Sorry to hear about the nasty PM's - nobody deserves that - I usually find GOY pretty friendly but there's always somebody out there to spoil peoples enjoyment. The berries are tiny and very few in number so I don't think Blackthorn, plus I'm pretty convinced the plant is evergreen (despite some of the leaves yellowing - perhaps the soil is lacking the nutrients it desires, i.e. common where plants prefer acid soil). I'm grateful for the replies. I've got another mystery plant for later!

This reminds me of Elaeagnus, but I'm damned if I know of one this small - the stem colour, the thorns and the small black berries fit with that group.

Moon Grower - has the problem with the nasty PMs been sorted?

Well I flagged them to the boys the person is still on GoY but I didn't particularly want them kicked off... just made aware their behaviour was not acceptable.

Does the flagging produce some sort of warning to the person then, if they're not struck off immediately?

No the boys can send a pm to the person sort of reprimanding them - at least that is my understanding of how it works. Other than the sexy ladies pm's I've never had one I felt the need to flag up before - sorry for hijacking your question Weatherwise.

No problem mg! Thanks for the guesses everyone. Bamboo, Elaeagnus certainly seems possible. I'll google Elaeagnus a bit more for some of the lesser known ones.

Good luck with finding a positive id!

I never heard of an Elaeagnus with opposite leaves, either. Is it possibly a form of Lonicera nitida? The leaf attachment and stem appearance also remind me of Olea--could it be a species in that genus or family?

Do they have thorns Tugb?

Lonicera is a great guess. You know what, I'm going to double check on those thorns - can't really make them out on that pic. If no thorns I'm pretty convinced its a Lonicera. Thanks.

Lonicera pilata or similar also sprang to mind - has black berries, but not thorns as far as I'm aware.

No thorns that I knew of, MG, but wild species of many of our thornless domesticated garden plants have to have some way to keep off the deer! : )