Question for blueberry experts

[Mike]

I have been debating to ask this question, thinkling most of you will find it silly but here it is anyway. Recently on a hike I came upon a large area of blueberries and noticed that while some of them resembled the classic New England berry that were a powder blue almost purple in color, there were others that were very dark almost black, and had more of a rounded shape. The black ones looked like small "dog" berries but were sweet to the taste and the bush was low and similiar to the other bushes. Are there 2 strains of eatable berries? If I were lost and ate a lot of the black ones would that present a problem? Thanks for your help.

 

[el-bagr]

Both are edible blueberries, though they're likely different species. Fortunately they often grow together, so you can mix and match to find the sweetness/tartness combination you like best.

http://www.vftt.org/forums/showpost.php?p=88711&postcount=8

I still haven't gotten around to posting pictures comparing the two, but they're coming.

 

[arghman]

Not a silly question... disclosure:I am not an edible plants expert. There are many excellent edible plants guides (Peterson's being one of them). Also check out one of U. Maine's pages on wild blueberries, it has some info tangentially related...

To the best of my knowledge, all species both in the blueberry (Vaccinium) genus and huckleberry (Gaylussacia) genus have edible fruits. This includes huckleberries, blueberries, bilberries, cranberries, and lingonberries (mountain cranberries). Huckleberries have crunchy seeds, they don't seem to be very common in NH. The rest are all in the Vaccinium genus.

There are definitely several species of blueberries, and probably a number of subspecies/strains... the blue powdery look (bloom) to berries seems to be a good indication of berry freshness and my guess is that it's there to help repel water (& associated fungal diseases), it does tend to wear off after time. I'm more likely to eat blueberries if they still have the bloom on them.

Somebody on this board had mentioned doing a blueberry species taste comparison but I haven't seen it yet. (edit: aha! I look forward to your posting, el-bagr.)

 

[marty]

Mike - my family and I eat both types regularly and have suffered no ill effects. My daughter and I actually prefer the dark ones. Great question!

 

[el-bagr]

I was about to say that I'm more of a blueberry afficionado and less of an expert. I know what tastes good, but I'm still working on my taxonomy.

The most common wild blueberry around here is V. angustifolium, aka "low sweet blueberry". Flowers are usually white or pinkish-white. Stems are usually smooth, light brown or red in color. V. angustifolium leaves are dark green, smooth and sometimes slightly dentate. The berry is usually dark blue, but typically has a waxy coating or bloom that makes it look powdery blue. There is also a black-fruited variety called V. angustifolium var. nigrum, which is similar but has black berries without a waxy coating. Nigrum tends to have larger fruits and is sweeter than the typical angustifolium.

The other (another?) common blueberry common variety is Vaccinium myrtilloides, which I've always called "mountain blueberry" based on its typical habitat. Stems and leaves are villous (covered with tiny hairs) and branch more than angustifolium. Myrtilloides is usually a bit taller. Myrtilloides leaves are lighter green and are notably hairy on the underside. They sometimes curl under like bog rosemary. Flowers are more greenish-white, but sometimes pinkish. Berries are usually smaller and less sweet than the angustifolium, and are waxy blue.

Taxonomically, it's confusing (confused?). Myrtilloides has been lumped into V. angustifolium var. myrtilloides. I haven't seen var. nigrum split into its own species, curiously enough.

- Todd, who is currently lunching on a quart of fresh-picked wild Maine blueberries and one pint each of raspberries and blackberries, and who will bake the remainder into a pie tonight.

 

[twigeater]

yumminy...we just picked some big fatties on a mountain top this weekend...so sweet!

 

[sardog1]

- Todd, who is currently lunching on a quart of fresh-picked wild Maine blueberries and one pint each of raspberries and blackberries, and who will bake the remainder into a pie tonight.

From one berryholic to another: Step away from the berries. We both know there won't be enough left for a pie.

And many thanks for doing a great job on the taxonomy. It saved me the effort of drafting it myself and the risk of being caught up in some Linnaean high-bush maze.

Reading about berries is almost as much fun as picking them and eating them. Okay, maybe not. I do know that any of these endeavors is way more fun than picking spuds ....

 

[TCD]

From a non-expert blueberry lover:

I'm not sure if I've noticed the distinctions, or maybe my favorite patches are mono-species/variety. But for non-experts, there are also some berries that I think should be avoided. There's a noticeably taller, stemmy plant that gets several isolated dark berries that could look like blueberries, maybe to a child. These often grow among the blueberries and I don't think they're good for you. Are they called "choke cherries? (maybe someone could shed more light on these). The orther one that gets small powder blue berries, and is obviously a different plant, is Juniper. That one's pretty obvious, but it's a mistake a small child could make, as Juniper does grow among blueberries. And I think Juniper berries might be bad for you? (Again, expert opinion would be helpful.)

TCD

 

[spencer]

TCD,

I think you are talking about blue-bead lily (Clintonia borealis) - it's berries are bigger and darker than most blueberries.

don't eat them.

choke cherry (Prunus virginiana) is kind of small tree - the berries are fine and are often used for jam. they are a deep red though and shouldn't be confused with blueberries (Vaccinium spp.)

spencer

 

[el-bagr]

Our only native juniper around here is Juniperus virginiana, aka Eastern redcedar. (Others are planted widely as ornamentals and may escape into the wild.) The familiar blue "berries" are actually cones, believe it or not; you may be familiar with their taste as a primary flavorant in gin (named from the Dutch word for juniper). The leaves and cones of Eastern redcedar are mildly toxic; they contain something close to thujone (the cumulative neurotoxin that makes absinthe kick harder than other liquors) and a wide variety of toxic terpenes. You might have an upset stomach from eating juniper berries, but they aren't that poisonous in the big picture. Young juniper twigs easily can be made into an interesting (I couldn't say refreshing) tea, but I wouldn't consume it regularly.

As far as chokecherries go, the seeds and leaves can be mildly poisonous, but the fruit flesh is not. New growth, wilted leaves, or plant parts that are injured by frost or drought contain a precursor to hydrocyanic acid (bitter almonds, think cyanide), which is formed in your stomach. Chokecherry toxicity is highest during the spring and summer; however, leaves are non-toxic by the time fruits mature. Not sure if that's the plant you mention.

edit to add: Bluebead lily fruits are suspected to be mildly poisonous. I used to scrupulously warn people not to eat them, but did some research a few years back and found no conclusive accounts of poisoning. Still, most of the lilies contain nasty toxins -- this is one I won't eat.

 

[TCD]

Hey, thanks for the info, spencer an el-bagr.

Knowing that I'm not an expert, I'm very careful and only eat what I'm sure is a blueberry. But now I'll know what to call the blue bead lilly. And those "berries" on the junipers are cones? That's pretty cool. I always thought they were berries, the same way that Yew and a few other evergreens have actual berries.

 

[Gris]

Maybe a l-l-l-little off-topic, but ... can you make a decent homemade wine from blueberries? We used to make some KILLER blackberry wine on my dad's farm back in my "wild teenage days."

BLUEBERRY WINE (1)
(Full Bodied)
2 lb. blueberries
1 lb. raisins
2 lb. granulated sugar
½ tsp. pectic enzyme
1½ tsp. acid blend
½ tsp. yeast energizer
water to 1 gallon
crushed Campden tablet
wine yeast
Bring water to boil, then set aside. Wash and crush blueberries and put in primary fermentation vessel with all ingredients except yeast. Add hot water and stir to dissolve sugar. Cover well and allow to cool to 70-75 degrees F., then add yeast. Stir daily for 5-6 days or until specific gravity is 1.040. Strain out fruit pulp and press. Siphon into secondary fermentation vessel and fit fermentation trap. Rack in three weeks and again in three months. When wine is clear and stable, rack again and bottle. Allow a year to mature. Improves with age. [Adapted from Stanley F. Anderson and Raymond Hull's The Art of Making Wine]

Never mind!

 

[el-bagr]

TCD, this may either make you hate botany altogether or make you want to become a plant geek, but those yew "berries" are cones as well. The "berry" is technically an aril, which is part of the cone. Yew and yew-like conifers have the most highly specialized cones of any conifer.

The yew is another much-maligned plant. The red "berry" may not be poisonous at all. While the seed (and all other parts) have been reported to be poisonous, some authorities hold that the fruit itself is benign. I just googled up this report from the Journal of Toxicology and Clinical Toxicology entitled "Is the yew really poisonous to you?" Bottom line: of 7,269 yew "poisoning" exposures where the final outcome of the exposure was documented, "adverse effects occurred in 92.5% and minor effects were experienced in 7.0%. Moderate (more pronounced, but not life-threatening) effects were experienced by 30 individuals and major (life-threatening) effects occurred in 4 people. There were no fatalities. Decontamination therapy, when compared to no therapy, had no impact on patient outcome. 6.3% were admitted for psychiatric or medical care. When symptoms were related to Taxus spp exposures, the most frequent symptoms were gastrointestinal (65.5%), followed by dermal (8.3%), neurological (6.0%), and cardiovascular (6.0%). "

 

[arghman]

There's a noticeably taller, stemmy plant that gets several isolated dark berries that could look like blueberries, maybe to a child.

I would not allow young children to pick wild berries w/o supervision, until I felt they could demonstrate not only that a plant was edible, but how they knew (i.e. what characteristics: leaf shape, stem, etc).

My mom drilled it into my head not to eat the yew berries on a bush we had in the yard (I did used to squish them with my hands though).

I've only once misidentified & eaten a nonedible berry by mistake, it was a mountain holly (Nemopanthus mucronatus) that I thought was a serviceberry (Amelanchier). Bleah! The good thing about most nonedible/poisonous plants is that they don't taste good. (For the record, serviceberries, blueberries, and huckleberries have kind of a "belly button" with 5 parts on the flower end of the berry, I forget what the botanical term is for that. Mountain holly and other nonedible red/blue/black berries don't have it, I think buckthorn is another one. Read Peterson's Guide!) I don't know of any that are both easily confused with tasty fruits and are poisonous enough that one taste would cause serious harm.

I haven't studied poisonous plants much but have heard of a few... the carrot family is one to stay away from as it has water hemlock (Cicuta maculata) which is supposed to be the most poisonous plant in the northeast. Or rosary pea (Abrus precatorius) with colorful seeds that are poisonous to kill with one bite, though it only grows in the southeast.

 

[el-bagr]

I've only once misidentified & eaten a nonedible berry by mistake, it was a mountain holly (Nemopanthus mucronatus) that I thought was a serviceberry (Amelanchier). Bleah!

I feel comfortable enough with my plant ID to taste wild fruits. (If you want to be amazed at what has been categorized as "edible", read Thoreau's botanical journals. What better way to be inspired to try bunchberry, mountain ash, or some of the other interesting-but-not-necessarily-pleasant berries?) Nemopanthus is one that I knew I couldn't identify, but sampled on the theory that it looked like Amelanchier. XXX! Bitter alkaloids that promptly dried my mouth out hard -- spit, irrigate, and spit again. It tasted surprisingly like I would imagine gasoline to taste. A taste alone can be too much for the really toxic ones, but usually you can taste carefully to sample the chemical mix without swallowing or absorbing much.

Arghman, I've always called the 5-pointed star the calyx crown. Not sure if that's right.

-- Todd, whose blue/rasp/blackberry pie was delicious for breakfast

 

[Roxi]

I have been debating to ask this question, thinkling most of you will find it silly but here it is anyway. Recently on a hike I came upon a large area of blueberries and noticed that while some of them resembled the classic New England berry that were a powder blue almost purple in color, there were others that were very dark almost black, and had more of a rounded shape. The black ones looked like small "dog" berries but were sweet to the taste and the bush was low and similiar to the other bushes. Are there 2 strains of eatable berries? If I were lost and ate a lot of the black ones would that present a problem? Thanks for your help.

My grandmother used to call the dark ones huckleberries. We picked them along with the powder blue blueberries and all went into the same pie which always tasted delicious. I *believe* the dark ones you described should still have the classic "ruffle" just like the powder blue blueberries where they attach to the bush. I LOVE hiking in late July and early August to pick wild blueberries and then bake something delicious with them later. On the small mountain near me, there are several varieties, low and high bush, from powder blue to "frosted" blue to black. They all taste good!

Roxi