EISPIRATEN

Took our boyscout troop backpacking to Glenntrail camp near Cogswell Dam 2 weeks ago. Suprise to see that many blackberry (this is real fruit not those gadgets) along the trail. And they were tasty too.

I know this ain't blackberry but what it is?

That would be hollyleaf cherry.

Terry Morse wrote:That would be hollyleaf cherry.

oh yeah? wonder if they have seeds inside like a cherry? I didn't check. Left them alone for the bears if they eat them.

[quote="FIGHT ON oh yeah? wonder if they have seeds inside like a cherry? I didn't check. Left them alone for the bears if they eat them.[/quote]

Yes, they do have seeds/pits inside. Indians used to use them like they did acorns. Drying, crushing and leaching to make a ground meal that they could use in cooking.

The flesh of the fruit contains a toxin that can cause gastorintestinal distress, so that should be avoided.

ground meal for cooking? what is that? Like adding fiber?
So do you think bears eat them? Maybe it's rough on their stomach too?

FIGHT ON wrote:ground meal for cooking? what is that? Like adding fiber?
So do you think bears eat them? Maybe it's rough on their stomach too?

Ground meal is like corn meal like what tamales are made out of. Same as they would use acorn meal for. But, I think the indians would make a flat bread out of the meal.

Bears do eat them. Sometimes, during this season, if you see a large bear poop, it will contain a lot of the pits. The poop will also be very loose, so maybe the flesh of the berries causes them diarrhea.

does anyone know if the berries in east for are still for pickin??

dude that is crystal! anybody wanna bet? I'm givin ten to one odds! 8)

Terry Morse wrote:[quote="FIGHT ON oh yeah? wonder if they have seeds inside like a cherry? I didn't check. Left them alone for the bears if they eat them.

Yes, they do have seeds/pits inside. Indians used to use them like they did acorns. Drying, crushing and leaching to make a ground meal that they could use in cooking.

The flesh of the fruit contains a toxin that can cause gastorintestinal distress, so that should be avoided.[/quote] Interesting. I've eaten them for years w/o a problem.

By the way, they're about 90 - 95 percent pit. It's not so much a cherry as a bit of cherry wrapped around a pit. Don't bite down hard! There's like a mm of flesh surrounding the pit. They're normally quite tart, but in well watered areas they can have far more flesh and are less tart.