Limerick Tree ID. Who Am I?

[thecfarm]

I was just a guessing. The berries gave it away. I had them things in the fields. They hug the ground and can get quite big at the stump. But not really a stump I would call it. Some was about 4 inches across at the ground. They grow along the ground than the branches will curve up. Ground hemlock is an old name. The needles are quite prickling. Not something I would want to be hit with on my bare legs. They do require full sun. In the grown up pasture I can find some that the trees have grown up around them and smothered them out. I have pulled and cut them all out of the field. Each year I pull out the small ones.
Magicman hates sweetgum,I hate ground hemlock.

[Thehardway]

Here is a new one.  It should be known by those in the southeast. There is a song about it.

I am a deciduous and leaves obovate
they also seem to alternate
my fruit is the largest of all
my stature though seldom tall
of all indigenous trees in the states
my name ryhmes with a crows call

[thecfarm]

I have a guess!!

[Texas Ranger]

What's your guess, Paw?

[thecfarm]

Yes it was. I sent him a PM so not to spoil it.
The sound of a crow gave it away. All the rest of the clues meant nothing to me.

[Thehardway]

I must be setting my standards too low or you guys are just too smart!  These are not everyday tree names here.  For those who didn't get the obscure reference/guess the answer was the Paw Paw tree.  They can be a little tricky as in the south they may actually be evergreen and not deciduous.  A little known fact is that the Paw Paw may be a "Superfruit" and thereby one of our most valueable fruit trees if they can only figure out how to control perishability and ripening charachteristics.    It's a neat little tree.

Ok, perhaps this one will challenge you a little more.

I'm one of the smallest trees on staff,
Apart from my blossoms I'm quite a laugh
a bittersweet thing after blossom bright red
a common namesake is grown in a bed
My green purple neck, long like a giraffe

[WmFritz]

Yep ... that crow hint tipped it for me,too.  :D

And no, I did not whip my lover, lightly or otherwise Monday.
Vicki would wrestle the branch outta my hand and club me about the noggin.   

[Thehardway]

No guesses on the last one yet so i will drop a hint.  A bird in the hand is worth two in this. :laugh:

[Texas Ranger]

strawberry

[Thehardway]

Strawberry Bush. A staff tree in the bittersweet group. Way to go!  Im flat out of limericks for this week. Perhaps i'll come up with another next week.

[WDH]

I learned it as cat's paw.