Rosaceae

Rose Family

FAMILY OVERVIEW: Few other families are more important to foragers than the rose family (Rosaceae), especially as a source of fruit. Many of the dominant fruit-bearing shrubs and trees of the Southwest are members of the rose family. This family is structurally complex. There’s no way to characterize all the members without it sounding like a description of every plant on earth. There are some patterns, but there are always exceptions that defy those patterns. The most frequent pattern is flowers with 5 sepals, 5 petals, and numerous stamens. Petals tend to be free rather than united, and they can also be absent. Stamens tend to occur in multiples of five, up to 20 or 25, occasionally more. Flowers of the rose family often have numerous pistils, but they can also have just one, as most flowers do. Flowers can be epigynous (ovary inferior), hypogynous (ovary superior), or a third type called perigynous (ovary superior but often appearing inferior). Fruits typically develop from ovaries, but in the rose family they often develop from other parts, such as hypanthiums (for example rose hips) and receptacles (for example strawberries). Fruits that develop from parts other than the ovaries are called accessory fruits, and clusters of fruits joined together are called aggregate fruits. Hypanthiums are cup-like structures (floral tubes) surrounding or extending above the ovaries. Receptacles are expanded areas atop the stems where all the flower parts plug into. Other types of fruits in the rose family include: drupes, achenes, follicles, and pomes. Other parts of the various members are less valuable to foragers. The leaves can be simple or compound, but they’re almost always arranged alternately and they’re almost never edible. Only a few members of the rose family produce edible roots, and several members contain harmful compounds.

Cyanogenic glycosides are a small group of defensive compounds found in many different plants, especially in members of the rose family. These compounds are basically sugar combined with a potent toxin called cyanide. When the cells of plants containing these compounds are broken—such as when animals (including humans) eat the various parts or when drought or frost damage the cells—the cyanogenic glycosides come in contact with enzymes that convert them to hydrocyanic acid (also called prussic acid). Hydrocyanic acid is the compound responsible for causing toxicity. It’s also harmful to the plant, but it’s not formed until the cyanogenic glycosides and enzymes come in contact with each other. These compounds are stored separately to prevent this from happening. Cyanogenic glycosides are readily soluble in water (Dzombak p. 26), but they are resistant to heat (Rizk p. 88). Hydrocyanic acid, on the other hand, is water-soluble and boils at a low temperature, about 26ºC or 79ºF (D’Mello 1991 p. 220), much lower than the boiling point of water at 100ºC or  212ºF. Removing hydrocyanic acid from wild foods is easily accomplished by boiling, but only the more stable precursors to this compound—cyanogenic glycosides—occur in plants. In order to remove cyanogenic glycosides, every cell of a wild food must be exposed to water, and this is easier said than done. Even thoroughly grinding a wild food may leave enough cells intact to cause toxicity. Boiling intact cells won’t significantly affect the cyanogenic glycosides inside, but boiling ruptured cells is much more effective, whether or not it’s effective enough is difficult to determine, so the safest solution is to simply avoid the parts storing these compounds.

Serviceberries

FAMILY: Rose family (Rosaceae) – Amelanchier genus.

SPECIES: All species are edible. #1 alderleaf, Canadian, or Saskatoon serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia (Nutt.) Nutt. ex M. Roem.). #2 Utah serviceberry (Amelanchier utahensis Koehne).

TO UTILIZE AS FOOD: The berry-like fruits (pomes) of all Amelanchier species are edible (Kirk p. 97). Other parts are inedible due to a cyanide-based toxin called prunasin. Serviceberries are also called Juneberries, referring to when the fruits appear in certain regions. Fruits of western populations can mature anytime from May to September depending on elevation. Serviceberries were once sold in grocery stores, but are nearly forgotten today (Brill pp. 123-124). Serviceberries were an important resource for Native Americans. Both species listed above are native to North America.

Canadian serviceberry (A. alnifolia) fruits are consistently delicious. Based on the fruits I sampled, they’re virtually identical to those of Utah serviceberry described below, except for having a more consistently softer texture. Some varieties of Utah serviceberry have a firm, unappealing, applecore-like texture. This doesn’t seem to be a problem in Canadian serviceberry. The moister climate that Canadian serviceberry prefers may prevent the fruits from becoming hard.

Utah serviceberry (A. utahensis) fruits range in flavor from bland to delicious. Developing fruits typically pass through stages of green, pink, red, and finally dark purple. Note that color isn’t always the most reliable indicator of maturity. Yellow and tan varieties also occur. Not all fruits mature at the same time, so returning to the same shrubs a few days later often yields additional fruits. Fruits usually mature from June to August. Elevation influences the harvest time. Utah serviceberry grows over a wide range of elevations, from blackbrush communities to oak, juniper, pine, and spruce communities. Mature fruits are solid, but mainly composed of seeds. All the parts are usually soft, but the seeds tend to be chewy or phlegm-like. Choice fruits have a sweet apple-like flavor with hints of grapes and almonds. Less-appealing fruits taste bland and may have a hard texture. Always watch for diseases when gathering these fruits. Utah serviceberries are often infected with orange rust fungus. Entire populations may fall victim. Even when no signs of diseases are visible on the skins, cutting the fruits open to check inside is wise. Healthy fruits are rich in pectin and suitable for making pies, jellies, desserts, and other items. Utah serviceberry shrubs are easy to find when they’re in bloom, but finding them when the fruits are ready is a little more challenging. Fruits can drop soon after maturing or persist for several months. Utah serviceberry is common throughout the western United States and provides foragers with an excellent source of food.

NOTES: The serviceberry field assessments were mostly from Utah and Nevada. I was overwhelmed by the abundance of these fine shrubs, but disheartened by the extent to which diseases ravaged them. Pure stands of Utah serviceberry grow just west of a small farming community called Pinto in southwestern Utah. My foraging days among these magnificent stands were like entering a place where everything was edible. I always hoped to live in a world where everything was edible— and peaceful. The serviceberry stands west of Pinto provided a glimpse of what such a place might look like.

IDENTIFICATION: About 15-20 species of the Amelanchier genus are found in the United States, of which only 2 are found in the Southwest and Great Basin. All the western species look similar, and differences between them vary in the wild. Species level identification is unnecessary because healthy fruits of all species are safe to eat. 

Description of Canadian serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia): FORM thornless shrub about 1-7 meters tall; LEAVES simple; alternate; deciduous; stalked; blades round-elliptic; margins toothed; FLOWERS regular, perfect, ovary inferior, epigynous, and arranged in few-flowered clusters; hypanthiums bonded to the ovaries; sepals 5, hairy (var. alnifolia) or hairless (var. pumila); petals 5, white, free, and about 8-20 mm long; pistils 1, compound with 2-5 fused carpels; styles 4-5 (usually 5); stamens 10-20; FRUITS pomes fleshy, berry-like, 5-11 mm in diameter, usually purple when ripe (or occasionally red, orange, or yellow); surfaces often dusty or occasionally hairy; seeds 4-10; HABITAT mountains and canyons; nearly throughout the West and into Canada; blooming May to July. NOTES: The pumila variety averages 1-2 meters tall, while the alnifolia variety averages 2-7 meters tall.

Description of Utah serviceberry (Amelanchier utahensis): FORM thornless shrub about 1-3 meters tall; various parts (twigs, leaf surfaces, sepals, bases of styles, and fruits) hairy or hairless, but tending to be hairy; LEAVES simple; alternate; deciduous; stalked; blades round-elliptic; margins toothed; FLOWERS regular, perfect, ovary inferior, epigynous, and arranged in few-flowered clusters; hypanthiums bonded to the ovaries; sepals 5; petals 5, white, free, and about 5-11 mm long; pistils 1, compound with 2-5 fused carpels; styles 2-5 (usually 3); stamens 10-20; FRUITS pomes dry or fleshy, berry-like, 5-11 mm in diameter, usually purple when ripe (or occasionally red, orange, or yellow); surfaces often dusty or occasionally hairy; seeds 4-10; HABITAT valleys, hillsides, and mountain meadows; throughout the West; blooming April to June.

REFERENCES: Kirk (p. 97) indicates that the fruits of all Amelanchier species are edible. #1 Saskatoon serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia): fruits Couplan (p. 207). #2 Utah serviceberry (Amelanchier utahensis): fruits Couplan (p. 207).

Silverweed

FAMILY: Rose family (Rosaceae) – Argentina genus.

SPECIES: Silverweed (Argentina anserina (L.) Rydb. = Potentilla anserina L.).

TO UTILIZE AS FOOD: The roots, young leaves, and receptacles (thickened areas atop the stems where the flower parts attach) of silverweed are edible after cooking. Based on the plants sampled for this reference, all these parts taste bitter and may contain traces of cyanide. Silverweed roots vary in quality. Well-developed roots are thick, large, firm, off-white to reddish-orange, and surrounded by dark-brown skins that were not designed to peel. Poorly-developed roots are thin, small, tough, fibrous, and not worth the effort of harvesting. Western soils tend to produce poor-quality roots. Even the best-quality roots are tainted with bitterness that degrades the moderate carbohydrate value. Boiling is the best method of preparation. It produces a mahogany broth that tastes better than the roots. Peeling the skins is recommended to help reduce bitterness. Baking only toughens the roots and highlights the bitter aspects. Silverweed leaves aren’t much better than the roots. Leaf texture is more troublesome than leaf flavor. Silverweed leaves, even the youngest leaves, are more gum-like than leaf-like and stubbornly resist chewing. The silvery hairs, for which the plants are named, don’t pose any major problems. Silverweed receptacles taste like and look like unripe strawberries. Bitterness dominates the flavor, making any part of silverweed hard to enjoy. Historically, silverweed was an important source of food throughout much of its native range in North America, Europe, and Asia. In the southwestern United States it blooms anytime from May to August in mountainous habitats, so it’s available throughout much of the growing season.

NOTES: Many authors describe silverweed roots more optimistically than I described them above. Bradford Angier (p. 204) equated the flavor of boiled silverweed roots to parsnips with overtones of sweet potatoes, and indicated that even more subtleties of the flavor are retained when the roots are steamed. Francois Couplan (p. 216) described them as quite palatable after parboiling to remove their astringency and roasting. Jerry Chmielewski (p. 155) notes that the roots are edible raw or cooked. I first tried silverweed roots in the Jemez Mountains of north-central New Mexico. Additional samples came from the Paunsaugunt Plateau in southern Utah and several other places. None of the samples approached the flavor of parsnips, sweet potatoes, or anything even slightly palatable. Wild foods often vary greatly in flavor. I don’t doubt that some silverweed populations produce good roots. I just haven’t found those populations. All my samples were from very dry soils. Perhaps dry soils tend to produce inferior roots. Silverweed roots have been credited with averting famines and sustaining people through food shortages, so please don’t let my scathing review dissuade you from further investigating this classical wild food.

A 100 gram serving of silverweed (Argentina anserina) roots contains: 132 kilocalories, 3.1 grams of protein, 0.6 grams of fat, 29.5 grams of carbohydrates, and 37 mg calcium. Source: Prentiss (p. 119, cited as Potentilla anserina).

IDENTIFICATION: The Argentina genus is represented by 2 species in the United States, of which only silverweed (A. anserina) is found in the Southwest. It was formerly classified in the Potentilla genus, but it differs from that genus by having stolons, solitary flowers, and smaller leaflets alternating with the main leaflets. Silverweed is common throughout the Southwest and Great Basin. The flowers are yellow and the stolons are often bright red.

Description of silverweed (Argentina anserina): FORM low-lying perennial plant spreading by stolons (runners); LEAVES compound; basal; stipules well developed; blades pinnate; larger leaflets 9-25, obovate, and alternating with much smaller leaflets; margins coarsely serrated; surfaces sparsely to densely covered with silky, silvery, appressed hairs (sericeous); FLOWERS regular, perfect, ovary superior, perigynous, and arranged individually atop long pedicels emerging from the nodes; sepals 5, closely subtended by 5 sepal-like bractlets; petals 5, yellow, and longer than the sepals; pistils numerous; styles attached laterally; stigmas head-like; stamens 20-25; FRUITS achenes rough, hairless, and reddish-brown; HABITAT fields and mountain meadows; circumboreal in the northern hemisphere; blooming May to August.

REFERENCES: Silverweed (Argentina anserina = Potentilla anserina): roots Angier (p. 204), Blankenship (p. 19), Couplan (p. 216), Kearney (1960 p. 384), and Moerman (p. 54).

Hawthorns

FAMILY: Rose family (Rosaceae) – Crataegus genus.

SPECIES: #1 cerro, hill or red-footed hawthorn (Crataegus erythropoda Ashe). #2 River Hawthorn (Crataegus rivularis Nutt.).

TO UTILIZE AS FOOD: The fruits (drupe-like pomes), leaf buds, and flowers of most hawthorns are edible. Fruits are the best part. Hawthorns are uncommon in the Southwest and Great Basin, but they were important resources to Native Americans in other parts of the United States.

Cerro hawthorn (C. erythropoda) is primarily a Rocky Mountain species. Due to its scarcity in the Southwest, it’s of little value to southwestern foragers. Mature fruits are red or purple, about 7-9 mm in diameter, and filled with 2-5 rock-hard nutlets. Cerro hawthorn blooms from April to June, so fruits can be expected from mid to late summer.

River hawthorn (C. rivularis) fruits taste delicious when fully ripe, comparable to the sweetest grapes, but without acidity. Hard seeds account for most of the volume. Paste-like flesh accounts for the remainder. Developing fruits turn from green to red and ultimately to dark purple. Past maturity, they begin to wrinkle. Separating the seeds from the flesh has a few problems. Since the seeds are embedded in the paste-like flesh, scooping them out is not an option. Dried flesh stubbornly adheres to the seeds rather than breaking off, thus inhibiting sifting techniques. Forcing fresh fruits through a strainer is ineffective, likewise with cooked fruits. Boiling turns the fleshy parts to mush, making them easy to push through a strainer, but this technique does more to make a mess than separate seeds from flesh. Skins tend to clog the screen while seeds block the pushing action. In order for straining to be effective, fleshy portions must be liquefied. Boiling won’t soften the seeds. Eating the fruits fresh and spitting out the seeds seems to be the easiest solution. River hawthorn can be found in mountain canyons in the northern parts of the Southwest, especially Nevada, Utah, Colorado, southern Idaho, and Wyoming. It’s native to that part of the world, where it must have been a greatly appreciated resource. River hawthorn blooms from May to July, so fruits can be expected from midsummer to early autumn.

IDENTIFICATION: Allegedly 150-200 species of the Crataegus genus are found in the United States, virtually none of which are likely to be encountered in the Southwest. Hawthorns are mainly found in the eastern United States. They’re easy to recognize as a group, but difficult to identify at the species level. The long spines, simple double-toothed leaves, sweet pomes, and inferior ovaries are diagnostic. No other southwestern shrubs or trees in the rose family have this combination of features.

Description of cerro hawthorn (Crataegus erythropoda): FORM shrub or small tree about 2-5 meters tall armed with curved thorns about 2-4 cm long; LEAVES simple; alternate; deciduous; stalks reddish at the bases; blades oval, lance- or diamond-shaped; margins double-serrated and shallowly lobed; the teeth gland-tipped; surfaces often shiny; FLOWERS regular, perfect, ovary inferior, and arranged in clusters; sepals 5; petals 5, free, and white; pistils 1, compound, with 2-5 carpels; styles 2-5; stamens 5-8; FRUITS pomes drupe-like, red or purple, 7-9 mm in diameter, and filled with 2-5 rock-hard nutlets; HABITAT along streams, primarily in the Rocky Mountains, except for a few scattered populations in the Southwest; blooming April to June.

Description of river hawthorn (Crataegus rivularis): FORM small tree or tree-like shrub about 2-6 meters tall armed with thorns about 1-3 cm long; LEAVES simple; alternate; deciduous; blades oval, lance- or diamond-shaped, generally widest above the middle; margins normally double-serrated and unlobed; tips acute or short-acuminate; FLOWERS regular, perfect, ovary inferior, and arranged in clusters; sepals 5; petals 5, free, and white; pistils 1, compound, with 2-5 carpels; styles 2-5; stamens 10; FRUITS pomes drupe-like, dark purple, 6-10 mm in diameter, and filled with 2-5 rock-hard nutlets; HABITAT canyon streams; northern half of the Southwest and northward; blooming May to July. NOTES: Described above is the rivularis variety. Other varieties differ primarily by leaf shape, but they don’t enter the Southwest.

REFERENCES: Kirk (p. 99) indicates that the fruits of all species in the Crataegus genus are edible. #1 cerro hawthorn (Crataegus erythropoda): fruits Castetter (1936 p. 44, cited as Crataegus cerronis). #2 river hawthorn (Crataegus rivularis): fruits Couplan (pp. 209-210).

Shrubby Cinquefoil

FAMILY: Rose family (Rosaceae) – Dasiphora genus.

SPECIES: Shrubby cinquefoil, golden hardhack, tundra rose, or Kuril tea (Dasiphora fruticosa (L.) Rydb. = Potentilla fruticosa L. = Potentilla floribunda Pursh).

TO UTILIZE AS FOOD: (tea only): Leaves of shrubby cinquefoil can be steeped into tea. If fresh flowers are included, the tea is yellowish-green and pleasantly aromatic. It combines a fruity herbal character with a captivating fragrance. Even a strong brew has very little bitterness or astringency. It’s not a dry tea. It’s also not acrid, resinous, soapy, or perfume-like. This tea is perfect for any occasion and reminiscent of honey-bush tea of African origin. Fresh materials are preferable to dried materials. Subtle complexities and fruity accents are lost upon drying, but tea made from dried materials is still excellent. After steeping the leaves and flowers, the tea should be strained and held at a boiling temperature for several minutes without these parts. This precautionary step drives off any traces of hydrocyanic acid that may be present. Hydrocyanic acid is poisonous and boils at a lower temperature than water (26ºC versus 100ºC; or 79ºF versus 212ºF; D’Mello 1991 p. 220). Preparing this tea as a “cold infusion” (by placing the cut parts in cold water) is probably a bad idea because the cyanogenic glycoside content (which breaks down into hydrocyanic acid) is unknown. Perhaps it’s too low to be of concern or perhaps it’s high enough to pose a health risk. Since many species in the rose family contain harmful amounts of this compound, this precautionary step is recommended to be safe. Gathering a supply of the leaves and flowers is easy. Shrubby cinquefoil is leafy, covered with numerous blossoms, and free of irritating thorns. Mountain ranges across the northern half of the Southwest, as well as cool regions across the northern hemisphere, are likely to have a generous supply available in late spring or summer.

NOTES: Shrubby cinquefoil is called Kuril tea in parts of Asia, where it serves as an alternative to green tea. Its Asian name refers to the Kuril Islands east of the Russian mainland and northeast of Japan, where early explorers learned of its virtues from the native inhabitants. From there, its popularity spread to other parts of Asia, and eventually other parts of the world. Kuril tea is now available on the commercial market. The Kuril tea or shrubby cinquefoil I prepared was gathered from the beautiful Fish Lake Hightop Plateau in central Utah. Compared to other teas I tried during the time I spent foraging in the wilderness, Kuril tea ranked among the best.

IDENTIFICATION: The Dasiphora genus is represented by 1 species in the United States. Shrubby cinquefoil (D. fruticosa) is a common shrub throughout northern North America. It differs from species in the Potentilla genus by having a shrubby growth form and densely hairy fruits.

Description of shrubby cinquefoil (Dasiphora fruticosa): FORM shrub about 2-14 dm tall with brown shredding bark; LEAVES compound; alternate; once pinnate with 3-7 linear, elliptic, or oblanceolate leaflets; margins entire and rolled; surfaces silky-haired (sericeous); FLOWERS regular, perfect, ovary superior, and arranged individually or 3-7 in cymes; sepals 5, and closely subtended by 5 bractlets; petals 5, free, and yellow; pistils numerous; stamens 20-25; FRUITS achenes densely hairy (hirsute); HABITAT mountain meadows in oak, pine, and fir communities; circumboreal in the northern hemisphere; blooming June to August.

REFERENCES: Shrubby cinquefoil (Dasiphora fruticosa = Potentilla fruticosa): leaves (prepared as tea) Couplan (p. 217).

Swiss Tea

FAMILY: Rose family (Rosaceae) – Dryas genus.

SPECIES: Swiss tea, alpine tea, eight-petal mountain avens, or white mountain avens (Dryas octopetala L.).

TO UTILIZE AS FOOD: (tea only): All parts of Swiss tea are inedible, but the leaves can be steeped into tea. This tea is deep greenish-brown, slightly resinous, slightly astringent, and rather bland. It has a pleasant character and a mountain high spirit. Only a small handful of leaves (10-20) are needed for an invigorating cup of tea. After steeping the leaves, the tea should be strained and held at a boiling temperature for several minutes without the leaves. This precautionary step drives off any traces of hydrocyanic acid that may be present. Hydrocyanic acid is poisonous and boils at a lower temperature than water (26ºC versus 100ºC; or 79ºF versus 212ºF; D’Mello 1991 p. 220). Preparing this tea as a “cold infusion” (by placing the cut parts in cold water) is probably a bad idea because the cyanogenic glycoside content (which breaks down into hydrocyanic acid) is unknown. Perhaps it’s too low to be of concern or perhaps it’s high enough to pose a health risk. Since many species in the rose family contain harmful amounts of this compound, this precautionary step is recommended to be safe. Swiss tea is an interesting beverage bound to please a few tea lovers. Undersides of the leaves are densely covered with whitish hairs. Fortunately, these hairs kindly remain attached to the undersides rather than infiltrating the beverage. Swiss tea is found in cool regions throughout the northern hemisphere, but it barely enters the American Southwest.

NOTES: In order to find Swiss tea, I did a trek to East Granddaddy Mountain in the Uinta Mountains of northern Utah. Due to inclement weather, I had to leave the area before finding the plant. Descending the access road in a two-wheel drive vehicle was challenging. Had I left any later or confronted any uphill sections, my hasty departure would not have been possible. Although my car has the look of a passenger vehicle, it has the heart of a 4-wheel drive vehicle. We did okay in the mountains. Weeks later, high on Loveland Pass in central Colorado my search for Swiss tea concluded. The peaceful blue skies of Loveland Pass were much more inviting than the tempestuous East Granddaddy Mountain. Swiss tea is not a product of commerce and its use doesn’t appear to be widespread. As its vernacular name suggests, it was utilized as tea in Switzerland, at least by early explorers in the Jura Mountains (Robinson 1905 p. 39). Whether or not it should be included in this book of the southwestern United States is debatable, but my English heritage and enthusiasm for tea felt it was appropriate. Since Swiss tea is essentially absent from the Southwest and not a food plant, it’s obviously of no significance to southwestern foragers. To alpine foragers elsewhere in the northern hemisphere, I’d recommend a cup of Swiss tea.

IDENTIFICATION: The Dryas genus is represented by 3 species in the United States, of which only 1 extends into the southern Rocky Mountains.

Description of Swiss tea (Dryas octopetala): FORM ground-hugging, mat-forming, plant-like shrub spreading by woody stolons; LEAVES simple; mostly basal; stalked; blades lance-elliptic, thick, leathery, and remaining green through winter but withering as new leaves develop in spring; margins round-toothed and rolled under (crenate-revolute); lower surfaces densely hairy (tomentose); upper surfaces dark green; FLOWERS regular, perfect, showy, ovary superior, and arranged individually or 2-3 atop long pedicels; sepals 8-10; petals 8-10, free, creamy white; FRUITS achenes with long feathery plumes; HABITAT alpine tundra in northern Utah and Colorado, but otherwise absent from the southwestern United States; blooming in summer.

REFERENCES: Swiss tea (Dryas octopetala): leaves (prepared as tea) Couplan (p. 210) and Robinson (1905 p. 39).

Wild Strawberries

FAMILY: Rose family (Rosaceae) – Fragaria genus.

SPECIES: All species of the Fragaria genus are edible. #1 woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca L. ssp. bracteata (A. Heller) Staudt = Fragaria crinita Rydb. = Fragaria helleri Holz.). #2 grayleaf strawberry (Fragaria virginiana Duchesne ssp. glauca (S. Watson) Staudt = Fragaria ovalis (Lehm.) Rydb.).

TO UTILIZE AS FOOD: Leaves, flowers, and fruits of all wild strawberries are edible (Couplan p. 212). The leaves and flowers taste somewhat bitter, but they can be added to salads, cooked as potherbs, or steeped into tea. Flowers are less astringent than leaves. Wild strawberry tea made from the leaves and flowers is greenish-brown and slightly bitter. It has a mild character reminiscent of black tea. Wild strawberries taste equivalent to the best commercially grown strawberries, remarkably achieving this flavor equivalence in a mere fraction of the size. Wild strawberries are indeed small and competition for them is fierce. Small animals claim the biggest share. Finding enough berries for a meal is unlikely, but they make a fantastic trailside snack. In mountains of the southwestern United States, wild strawberries usually mature in June or July, sometimes later at higher elevations.

NOTES: Fruits of species listed above that were sampled for this reference had little difference in flavor, texture, and aroma. Wild strawberries are highly successful plants in many parts of the world, including the southwestern United States. I’ve seen them thriving in numerous mountain ranges. Wild strawberries were gathered by Native Americans, and were probably gathered by indigenous people everywhere they grew ever since humans began walking on this planet. Origins of cultivation date back at least to the Iron Age (Cumo p. 982).

IDENTIFICATION: The Fragaria genus is currently represented by 3 species in the United States. Only 2 species occur in the Southwest. All species look similar and readily hybridize. Technical distinctions are based primarily on the hairs, leaves, and fruits. None of the distinctions are 100% reliable. They’re also of no consequence to foragers because fruits of all species are edible. The so-called “berries” are actually fleshy receptacles (thickened areas atop stems where flower parts attach). Technically, the achenes (shells surrounding the seeds) scattered on the receptacles are the true fruits. Wild strawberries are highly successful plants tolerant of shade, sand, and poor soil conditions. The third species in the United States, called beach strawberry (Fragaria chiloensis), primarily of coastal habitats along the Pacific Ocean, differs from the others by having leathery leaves.

Description of woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca): FORM low-lying perennial plant spreading by stolons; LEAVES compound, basal, and long-stalked; leaflets 3, obovate to somewhat rhombic; margins toothed well below the middle; surfaces green, nonglaucous, prominently veined, and sparsely to densely hairy underneath; FLOWERS regular, perfect, ovary superior, perigynous, and arranged individually or a few on long scapes; bractlets 5, often leaf-like or lobed; sepals 5; petals 5, free, white to light pink; pistils numerous; stamens 20-25; FRUITS achenes numerous, tiny, black, and borne on the surfaces (rather than in pits) of red, fleshy, juicy receptacles; HABITAT meadows and woodlands; often in sandy soils; throughout most of the United States; blooming April to September. NOTES: Four subspecies are currently recognized. Of these, only the bracteata subspecies (characterized by having scapes exceeding the leafstalks, sessile to subsessile leaflets with sparsely hairy lower surfaces, and spreading-pilose hairs on the scapes) grows in the southwestern United States.

Description of grayleaf strawberry (Fragaria virginiana): FORM low-lying perennial plant spreading by stolons; LEAVES compound, basal, long-stalked, and covered with appressed (ssp. glauca) or spreading (ssp. platypetala) hairs; leaflets 3, rounded to obovate-oblong, and generally short-stalked; margins toothed only near the tips; surfaces dull bluish-grayish-green, usually dusty (glaucous), usually hairless, and not prominently veined; FLOWERS regular, perfect, ovary superior, perigynous, and arranged individually or a few on long scapes; bractlets 5, usually not lobed; sepals 5; petals 5, free, white; pistils numerous; stamens 20-25; FRUITS achenes numerous, tiny, black, and partially embedded in the pits of red, fleshy, juicy receptacles; HABITAT meadows and woodlands; often in sandy soils; throughout most of the United States; blooming April to September. NOTES: Four subspecies are currently recognized. Of these, only the glauca and platypetala subspecies grow in the southwestern United States.

REFERENCES: Couplan (p. 212) indicates that the leaves, flowers, and fruits of all species in the Fragaria genus are edible. #1 woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca ssp. bracteata): fruits Moerman (pp. 116-117) and Tull (1987 p. 225). #2 grayleaf strawberry (Fragaria virginiana ssp. glauca): fruits Cody (p. 385).

Prairie-smoke

FAMILY: Rose family (Rosaceae) – Geum genus.

SPECIES: Prairie-smoke or old man’s whiskers (Geum triflorum Pursh var. ciliatum (Pursh) Fassett = G. ciliatum Pursh).

TO UTILIZE AS FOOD: (beverage only): Prairie-smoke is inedible, but the aromatic roots can allegedly be brewed into a “chocolate-like” beverage. Comparisons to chocolate would be overly optimistic. Geum is an old Greek word that means “an agreeable aroma” and refers to the clove-like aroma of the roots. The aroma is due to a compound called eugenol, which is also found in cloves. Despite the enticing aroma, prairie-smoke roots taste extremely bitter due to excessive amounts of tannins. The roots need to be boiled, and then boiled again, to reduce the tannins. Prairie-smoke roots are deceptively larger than what the aboveground portions of the plants indicate. Inner roots are reddish-brown to pinkish-white and terribly bitter regardless of color. The texture is similar to carrots, but firmer. Except for an interesting beverage that can be made by brewing the roots, consumption is not recommended. To prepare this beverage: simply add a pinch of chopped roots to mountain spring water and bring to a simmer. Dried milk, malted milk, toasted grains, and sugar are fine additions to this beverage. Roasting the roots prior to simmering them yields more favorable results. Beer brewers once added the roots to kegs of beer, as a flavoring and preservative. Prairie-smoke is found in prairies, meadows, and open forests throughout most of central and western North America. A related species called purple avens (G. rivale) is reported to be more flavorful, but it prefers moist habitats of northern regions. Prairie-smoke (G. triflorum) is better adapted to arid regions.

NOTES: I wasn’t really expecting descriptions claiming that prairie-smoke roots taste like chocolate to prove true, but I tested the roots with greater than average optimism in the Tushar Mountains of Utah. After the first taste, that optimism was promptly stampeded by a rush of bitter disappointment. I thought there might be a faint resemblance to chocolate, or maybe mocha, or at least a discount brand of imitation malt flavoring, but there was no such resemblance. Considering the flavor, it’s no mystery why prairie-smoke roots were traditionally prepared as a beverage rather than eaten. Any starchy component of these roots is swiftly overrun by bitterness. That’s why only a small amount should be used when preparing them as a beverage. The clove-like accent seems to be the only agreeable feature of these roots. Samples from other places were no better than those from the Tushar Mountains. Prairie-smoke is worth trying, especially with added ingredients, but don’t set your expectations too high.

IDENTIFICATION: The Geum genus is represented by about 15-20 species in the United States, of which 5 occur in the Southwest, Great Basin, and Rocky Mountains.

Description of prairie-smoke (Geum triflorum var. ciliatum): FORM densely gray-haired perennial plant about 8-40 cm tall emerging from a thick, scaly rootstock; LEAVES compound; primarily basal and often with a reduced opposite pair on the stems; pinnate or deeply pinnately cut; ultimate segments narrow; surfaces hairy; FLOWERS regular, perfect, ovary superior, and arranged individually or a few on nodding stalks; hypanthiums not bristly and not winged; bractlets 5; sepals 5; petals 5, free, 8-15 mm long, and white, cream, or light pinkish-purple; styles numerous, becoming long and feathery on the fruits; stamens numerous; FRUITS achenes tipped with feathery plumes (elongated styles) about 20-35 mm long; HABITAT prairies, meadows, and open forests of central and western North America; blooming May to June. NOTES: Of the 4 varieties that have been described over the years, only the ciliatum variety grows in the southwestern United States.

REFERENCES: Prairie-smoke (Geum triflorum var. ciliatum = Geum ciliatum): roots (as a beverage) Couplan (p. 213), Facciola (p. 199), and Kirk (p. 92). Prairie-smoke (Geum triflorum): roots (as a beverage) Moerman (p. 121) and Yanovski (p. 32).

Mountain Spray

FAMILY: Rose family (Rosaceae) – Holodiscus genus.

SPECIES: #1 ocean spray, cream bush, ironwood, or spirea (Holodiscus discolor var. discolor (Pursh) Maxim. = Sericotheca discolor (Pursh) Rydb. = Spiraea discolor Pursh). #2 mountain spray or rock spirea (Holodiscus discolor var. dumosus (S. Watson) Maxim. ex J. M. Coult. = Holodiscus dumosus (Nutt. ex Hook.) A. Heller = Sericotheca dumosa (S. Watson) Rydb.).

TO UTILIZE AS FOOD: Native Americans of the southwestern United States ate the fruits fresh or cooked. Tea made from the bark, leaves, and flowers was used for various medicinal purposes.

Mountain spray (H. discolor var. dumosus) fruits are essentially worthless as food. Fruits of any age taste acrid, resinous, and unappealing. Developing fruits are green, hairy, tiny, and pleasantly fragrant. Edible material is almost nonexistent, except for moist skins covering the seeds. Mature fruits are dry, brown, and more seed-like than fruit-like. After thorough boiling, developing fruits have a terrible flavor and an irritating texture. Only the aroma is pleasant. Gathering clusters of these fruits is easy. Individual fruits readily detach from the clusters, along with some chaff. Overall, mountain spray fruits are a terrible wild food and can basically be considered inedible.

Mountain spray (H. discolor var. dumosus) leaves were prepared as a beverage by the Tewa Indians of New Mexico. Far to the north in Washington, tea made from the stem bark or flowers of ocean spray (H. discolor var. discolor) was used medicinally as a tonic and to treat colds, flus, diarrhea, and various digestive problems. The medicinal efficacy of these shrubs was not evaluated for this reference, but the stems, leaves, and flowers of mountain spray were prepared as tea. Mountain spray tea has a fruity flavor suggesting rose hips and almost no bitterness. It tastes much better than the fruit structures. The aroma matches the flavor. Adding sugar is unnecessary. Of course, a little sugar may be desired. A combination of stems, leaves, and flowers produces the best results. Although dried plant materials make a fine tea, fresh plant materials make a superior tea. Flavor can vary according to the parts included when steeping. Leaves and flowers together impart distinctively fruity overtones. Flowers alone highlight the more fragrant aspects, and stems contribute a complex woody boldness. Eating any of these parts unleashes an acrid bite. They’re only suitable for consumption when prepared as tea. Aromatic resins responsible for the pleasant aspects ultimately ruin the flavor. Small amounts taste fine, but large amounts taste harsh. A fresh leaf can simply be held in the mouth to enjoy when walking along mountain trails.

NOTES: The species described here has long been known as mountain spray (Holodiscus dumosus), which is basically a smaller version of ocean spray (Holodiscus discolor). I gathered the samples for this species in the Mogollon Mountains of southwestern New Mexico and a few other places. The difference between eating the various parts and preparing them as tea is astonishing (note that only the fruits are edible). They’re very pleasant when prepared as tea, but you wouldn’t want to eat them. Mountain spray leaves are also pleasant when simply held in your mouth. The fruity flavor they impart is refreshing when hiking in the mountains. They’re one of my favorite trailside refreshments. Even though the leaves are rather dry, holding one in your mouth temporarily alleviates thirst and hunger. Mountain spray and ocean spray are often noted for their extremely hard wood that Native Americans used for making tools, digging sticks, traps, shields, and other durable items. These shrubs are more suitable for these purposes than any culinary endeavors other than tea.

IDENTIFICATION: Depending on the source cited, only 2 species of the Holodiscus genus are found in the United States—H. discolor and H. microphyllus—both of which are further divided into varieties. Scientific names for the Holodiscus genus are hereby based on the Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Botanists that like to divide species without a good reason have made a real mess of the rose family. Sifting out the taxonomical nonsense is often an exercise in futility. Even in a relatively simple genus like the Holodiscus genus, the multitudes of poorly conceived names and subsequent synonyms often fail to follow a logical order. A conservative approach to naming plant species, especially in the rose family, is long overdue.

Description of ocean and mountain spray (Holodiscus discolor): FORM thornless, deciduous shrubs about 0.5 to 3.5 m tall; LEAVES simple; alternate; either 1-5 cm long (var. dumosus) or 3-12 cm long (var. discolor); blades egg- to diamond-shaped; margins toothed and shallowly lobed; upper surfaces hairless or sparsely hairy; lower surfaces sparsely to densely hairy, often whitish-silver; FLOWERS regular, perfect, ovary superior, perigynous, and arranged in dense panicles; hypanthiums disk-shaped; sepals 5, hairy; petals 5, white or pinkish; pistils 5, hairy; stamens 15-20; FRUITS achenes hairy; HABITAT rocky areas in mountains; throughout the Southwest and Great Basin; blooming June to August. NOTES: Ocean spray (var. discolor) is generally a larger shrub than mountain spray (var. dumosus), 1 to 3.5 meters versus 0.5 to 2.5 meters respectively.

REFERENCES: #1 ocean spray (Holodiscus discolor): stem bark (as a medicinal tea) Gunther (p. 33) and Vizgirdas (p. 161); flowers (as a medicinal tea) Gunther (p. 33); fruits (eaten as food) Kirk (p. 201), Vizgirdas (p. 161), and Yanovski (p. 35). #2 mountain spray (Holodiscus dumosus): leaves (steeped to make a beverage) Moerman (p. 128); fruits (eaten as food) Castetter (1935-a p. 30), Ebeling (p. 490), Robbins (p. 49, cited as Sericotheca dumosa), and Yanovski (p. 35).

Skunk Apple

FAMILY: Rose family (Rosaceae) – Peraphyllum genus.

SPECIES: Skunk apple, wild crabapple, or squaw apple (Peraphyllum ramosissimum Nutt.).

TO UTILIZE AS FOOD: Warning! Even though the seeds are not reported to be harmful, they may contain toxins called cyanogenic glycosides. Removing or thoroughly boiling the seeds would be a wise precaution.

Skunk apple (P. ramosissimum) fruits are edible when fully ripe or slightly past that point. Unripe fruits taste horrible. At peak ripeness, skunk apples can be yellow, orange, pink, or red. They tend to be red on the sun-facing sides and yellow on the shade-facing sides. Precise coloration varies and often consists of many subtle hues. Skunk apples are extremely tart, moderately sweet, slightly bitter, slightly foul, and rather unappealing. As you probably suspect, the flavor and texture are apple-like. When eaten fresh, the flavor may be too strong for some people, but it’s not excessively acrid, resinous, or soapy. Seed coats are tough, chewy, fibrous, and indigestible. Brief boiling tones down the tartness, offers a minor improvement, softens the seed coats, and yields a pinkish broth. Extended boiling further reduces tartness at the expense of losing sweetness. Since seed removal is tedious, mashing and boiling whole fruits is a better processing option. This produces a seedy applesauce that is ready-to-eat. Maple syrup makes an excellent addition to this applesauce. Cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon also make good additions. Skunk apples are about the size of commercially grown blueberries, or about 8-12 mm in diameter. Most of the fruit volume is seed rather than flesh. Shortly past maturity is the best time to harvest. This time is determined by observing the seeds rather than the skins. Prior to maturity, skin color may falsely indicate ripeness. Fruits can appear this way for several weeks before finally maturing. Fully mature seeds are usually dark brown with almond-like interiors. Green seed coats would indicate that the fruits are still developing. Taste is another good indicator of ripeness. Past peak fruits often wrinkle. Stalks and flower remnants need to be removed. Quartering whole fruits and coring the little wedges is basically an exercise in futility, yet these wedges make a good addition to salads. Animals don’t seem very interested in skunk apples. Late summer is a good time to gather the fruits. Beyond maturity, skunk apples rot and fall to the ground. They rarely persist. Autumn leaves turn yellow, orange, and red. Fruits are usually long gone by this time. Good crops are fairly reliable. Skunk apples grow throughout the Intermountain Region, often among oaks and pinyon pines.

IDENTIFICATION: Only 1 species of the Peraphyllum genus is found in the United States, mainly in the Intermountain Region (Utah and Nevada and adjacent areas).

Description of skunk apple (Peraphyllum ramosissimum): FORM thornless shrub about 1-3 meters tall; LEAVES simple; arranged alternately or in clusters at the tips of short branches; deciduous; stalks absent or short; blades oblanceolate, 2-4 cm long; margins smooth or finely serrated; tips acute or rounded; FLOWERS regular, perfect, ovary inferior, epigynous, and arranged individually or in clusters of 2-3 appearing with the leaves; sepals 5; petals 5; styles 2-3; stamens 15-20; FRUITS pomes 8-12 mm in diameter, fleshy, bitter, and yellowish to reddish at maturity; HABITAT open juniper, oak, and pine communities; northern half of the Southwest; blooming May to July.

REFERENCES: Skunk apple (Peraphyllum ramosissimum): fruits Couplan (p. 216), Facciola (p. 200), Harrington (pp. 250-251), and others.

Red Cinquefoil

FAMILY: Rose family (Rosaceae) – Potentilla genus.

SPECIES: Red cinquefoil (Potentilla thurberi A. Gray).

TO UTILIZE AS FOOD: Warning! Traces of toxins called cyanogenic glycosides may be present in this wild food.

Red cinquefoil (P. thurberi) receptacles are edible after cooking. Receptacles are thickened areas atop the stems where sepals, petals, stamens, pistils, and other flower parts attach. Strawberries are a good example of a receptacle. Initially, red cinquefoil receptacles look insignificant. As they develop, they look like little green strawberries wrapped by hairy sepals. They taste more like vegetables than fruits, except for a minor fruity accent. The flavor is reminiscent of strawberry leaves with a bitter overtone. The texture is soft. Gathering red cinquefoil receptacles is tedious and removing the sepals is a waste of time. Numerous receptacles may occur on well-developed plants, while only a few receptacles may occur on poorly-developed plants. They’re generally available from June to September. Red cinquefoil is common throughout the southwestern mountains, but it’s a wild food of minor value.

NOTES: Wild food expert Francois Couplan indicates that the young leaves of “various” Potentilla species are edible, but doesn’t specify any species. Leaves of red cinquefoil might be worth trying. However, very few references mention any food uses for this plant, so caution is advised. During my fieldwork, I only sampled the young receptacles. The road heading up Silver Creek in western New Mexico has a healthy population of red cinquefoil. The Silver Creek area was a focal point in the development of this book. Aspiring botanists interested in the southwestern flora would not be disappointed by a field trip to that area. The only reference to edibility I located for red cinquefoil was in “Handbook of Indian Foods and Fibers of Arid America” by Walter Ebeling, where it’s listed on page 755 among other foods gathered by the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico. Although red cinquefoil is common, it will probably never contribute a substantial amount of calories to a forager’s diet.

IDENTIFICATION: Approximately 60 species of the Potentilla genus are found in the United States, of which about 25 occur in the Southwest and Great Basin. Most species have yellow flowers. The red flowers of red cinquefoil (P. thurberi) are very distinctive. No other red-flowered species occur in the Southwest.

Description of red cinquefoil (Potentilla thurberi): FORM upright plant about 2-7 dm tall; stolons absent; LEAVES alternate and basal; palmately compound; leaflets 5-7, obovate with coarsely toothed margins; surfaces sparsely to densely hairy; FLOWERS regular, perfect, ovary superior, and arranged individually or a few in cymes; bractlets 5; sepals 5; petals 5, free, and deep red; pistils numerous; styles terminal and deciduous; stamens 15 or more; FRUITS achenes hairless and distinct; HABITAT mountain meadows; primarily in Arizona and New Mexico; blooming June to September.

REFERENCES: Red cinquefoil (Potentilla thurberi): fruits Ebeling (p. 755).

Prunus

Almonds, Apricots, Cherries, Peaches, and Plums

FAMILY: Rose family (Rosaceae) – Prunus genus.

SPECIES: #1 American plum (Prunus americana Marshall). #2 desert peach (Prunus andersonii A. Gray = Amygdalus andersonii (A. Gray) Greene). #3 bitter cherry (Prunus emarginata (Douglas) Eaton). #4 desert almond (Prunus fasciculata (Torr.) A. Gray). #5 desert apricot (Prunus fremontii S. Watson). #6 hollyleaf cherry or islay (Prunus ilicifolia (Nutt. ex Hook. & Arn.) D. Dietr.). #7 Gila black cherry (Prunus serotina Ehrh. var. rufula (Woot. & Standl.) McVaugh). #8 southwestern black cherry (Prunus serotina Ehrh. var. virens (Woot. & Standl.) McVaugh). #9 western choke cherry (Prunus virginiana L. var. demissa (Nutt.) Torr.). #10 black choke cherry (Prunus virginiana L. var. melanocarpa (A. Nelson) Sarg.).

TO UTILIZE AS FOOD: Warning! The roots, bark, leaves, and kernels of most species in the Prunus genus contain compounds called cyanogenic glycosides (including amygdalin and prunasin) that break down into a dangerous toxin called hydrocyanic acid after ingestion. Fruits are essentially free of these compounds. Hydrocyanic acid can release potentially deadly amounts of cyanide into the bloodstream. The human body uses red blood cells to transport oxygen. Red blood cells have a greater affinity for cyanide than they do for oxygen. Symptoms of cyanide poisoning occur rapidly and may include: difficulties in breathing, abdominal pain, blue discoloration of the extremities, convulsions, or ultimately death from asphyxiation. Cyanogenic glycosides are readily soluble in water (Dzombak p. 26), but they are resistant to heat (Rizk p. 88). Hydrocyanic acid, on the other hand, is water-soluble and boils at a low temperature, about 26ºC or 79ºF (D’Mello 1991 p. 220), much lower than the boiling point of water at 100ºC or 212ºF. Removing hydrocyanic acid from wild foods is easily accomplished by boiling, but only the more stable precursors of this compound—cyanogenic glycosides—occur in plants. In order to remove cyanogenic glycosides, every cell of a wild food must be exposed to water, and this is easier said than done. Even thoroughly grinding a wild food may leave enough cells intact to cause toxicity. Boiling intact cells won’t affect the cyanogenic glycosides inside, but this process, especially in combination with grinding, generally ruptures the cells and eliminates the harmful compounds.

Fleshy fruits of many species in the Prunus genus are edible, and the kernels of a few species can be utilized as food after careful preparation. Cherries hardly need a description. Wild cherries taste equivalent to cultivated cherries. The best species for fruits in the Southwest include: bitter cherry (P. emarginata), black cherry (P. serotina), and choke cherry (P. virginiana). Some species produce large pits with edible kernels inside. The best species for kernels include: desert almond (P. fasciculata), desert peach (P. andersonii), and desert apricot (P. fremontii). These latter 3 species are part of a small group, called the Amygdalus subgenus, related to cultivated almonds (P. amygdalus) and characterized by relatively low (but not low enough) concentrations of cyanogenic glycosides. Processing is required to render the kernels edible. After shelling, the kernels should be ground into a fine meal, soaked in cold water overnight, thoroughly boiled to eliminate the toxins, and roasted to improve the flavor. Pounding the kernels into a fine meal prior to soaking and boiling ruptures the cells and exposes the toxins to water, thus allowing these processes to be more effective. Rupturing the cells is very important. Due to the extremely hazardous nature of desert almond, desert apricot, and desert peach kernels, consumption is not recommended. Fortunately, the flesh of most fruits in the Prunus genus does not require such processing. In many species, the flesh is edible raw, but it can be very bitter.

American plum (P. americana) was an extraordinarily important resource to Native Americans. It’s native to central and eastern North America, and becomes scarce west of the Rocky Mountains. In the Southwest, it’s found primarily in north-central New Mexico. Ripe plums are reddish-purple, speckled, fleshy, about 15-25 mm in diameter, one-seeded, and grooved. American plum blooms in April and May. Fruits can be expected in July and August, but these fruits are of minor importance to southwestern foragers.

Desert peach (P. andersonii) shrubs grow abundantly along the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California and eastward to central Nevada. Native Americans utilized these shrubs as a source of kernels rather than fleshy fruits. Desert peaches are extremely astringent. Eating more than 2 or 3 would be unhealthful. Only a mere trace of peach flavor is apparent among the bitterness. Even when picked at peak ripeness, desert peaches taste terribly unappealing. They look and smell like cultivated peaches, but that’s where the similarities end. Desert peaches rarely exceed 15-20 mm in diameter. Fleshy layers of mature fruits tend to split in half and fall away from the pits, which greatly eases the task of separating these parts. Attempting to eliminate the astringency by boiling the fruits in repeated changes of water washes away any traces of sweetness. The initial cooking water is sweet, tart, peachy, and replete with tannins. After several changes of water, astringency persists as food value disappears. Little hope exists for desert peaches as fleshy fruits, but in midsummer they provide a valuable source of almond-like kernels similar to those of desert almonds described below.

Bitter cherry (P. emarginata) is native to western North America. Fruits of this species may not have been utilized by Native Americans as extensively as those of other species, but they were still an important resource. Bitter cherry is common in the mountains of New Mexico, Arizona, and California. Although I found this species, I never found it laden with a supply of fruits. This was my fault rather than the tree’s fault. My timing was incorrect. Bitter cherry blooms from April to July, so fruits can be expected from July to September. Ripe fruits are reported to taste bitter. They’re bigger than choke cherries, but fewer occur in each cluster.

Desert almond (P. fasciculata) shrubs are widespread in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California and the southern Great Basin. Fresh kernels (almonds) are soft, white, and moist. They taste bitter and very similar to cherries. Commercially grown almonds (P. amygdalus) are much harder. Despite the innocent-sounding name, desert almonds are very dangerous! They CANNOT BE EATEN RAW due to cyanide-containing toxins. Fortunately, boiling can eliminate the toxins. Desert almonds are 4-7 mm long, shaped like teardrops, and surrounded by hard shells that can be cracked with a rock. Shells are surrounded by fleshy green pulp and fuzzy skins that sadly represent the fruit layers. These minuscule fruit layers are inedible, astringent, and void of sweetness. Only the kernels can be utilized as food. After shelling, the kernels should be ground into a fine meal, soaked overnight in water, thoroughly boiled to eliminate the toxins, and roasted to improve the flavor. Roasted desert almond flour is delicious and similar to genuine almonds. It’s a valuable commodity despite the difficulties of processing. Desert almond blooms from March to May and produces almonds from June to August.

Desert apricot (P. fremontii) shrubs are found primarily in southern California, especially along the eastern slope of the peninsular ranges. They grow from 1-4 meters tall and often have a tree-like appearance. Desert apricots look and smell similar to cultivated apricots, but that’s where the similarities end. Excessive astringency and terrible bitterness ruin the fleshy portions, except on rare occasions when sweetness prevails. Desert apricots are best utilized as a source of kernels rather than fleshy fruits. Most of the volume consists of hard pits surrounding almond-like kernels. Fleshy layers are scanty, semi-dry, yellow, and essentially worthless as food. They tend to split in half naturally and fall away from the pits. Separating the two doesn’t require much effort. Cooking eliminates any trace of sweetness along with most of the astringency. The results barely qualify as palatable. Gathering a supply is easy. Desert apricots usually mature in June and July. The almond-like kernels are similar to those of desert almonds described above.

Hollyleaf cherry (P. ilicifolia) is native to southwestern California and the Baja Peninsula of Mexico. It’s a top-quality species in those regions, but it doesn’t grow outside those regions. California foragers can enjoy the fruits when they’re in season from July to August. Hollyleaf cherry was an important resource to many groups of Native Americans in southern California. It was utilized as a source of fruits and seeds. All the warnings about cyanogenic glycosides already discussed apply to the seeds of this species. Fleshy parts of the fruits are safe to eat raw, but the seeds must be thoroughly processed. Ripe fruits are red to purplish-black, 12-15 mm in diameter, and filled with large pits.

Black cherry (P. serotina) is an excellent species. Two varieties occur in the southwestern United States: virens and rufula. The following notes are based on both varieties. Fruits of both varieties are identical and bigger than those of choke cherries, but fewer occur in each cluster. Developing fruits turn from green to red and finally to reddish-black. When fully ripe, they taste absolutely delicious and slightly tart. Commercially grown cherries taste no better. Black cherries have large pits and thick fleshy layers. They mature toward the end of summer. Diseases can be a problem, so watch for signs of distress. Black cherry trees are common in the southwestern mountains, but good crops are infrequent.

Choke cherry (P. virginiana) is the best species of the Prunus genus in the southwestern United States. Two varieties occur in the region: demissa and melanocarpa. The following notes are based on the melanocarpa variety. Choke cherry trees produce numerous clusters of sweet, reddish-purple to reddish-blackish fruits from mid to late summer. As the name indicates, the pits are a choking hazard. Choke cherries are easy to collect in quantity and reasonably easy to process. Flesh doesn’t adhere to the pits, thus making hand separation practical. Squeezing a fresh choke cherry shoots out the pit. Substantial quantities of pure flesh can efficiently be obtained this way with no loss of fruit. Water separation doesn’t work because both flesh and pits sink. Pushing the fruits through a screen works to some extent, but skins clog the screen and pits block the action. This technique tends to make a mess rather than remove the pits, and surprisingly little juice is created in the endeavor. Cooking offers no advantages. Choke cherries are best dried in their natural state after pitting. When semi-dry, they can easily be formed into natural fruit bars. Nuts, toasted grains, maple syrup, and cinnamon add a nice touch to these bars. Choke cherry trees are common throughout the southwestern mountains and represent the most productive species in the genus. Their importance should not be underestimated. Good crops are produced almost every year, and crops are almost free of insect damage. The trees require ideal growing conditions, such as woodland verges that receive ample water and sunlight. Late-season frosts can be an issue. Overall, choke cherries are a top-quality wild food.

IDENTIFICATION: About 50-60 species of the Prunus genus are found in the United States, of which only 8 occur in the Southwest. Additional species are cultivated, but they rarely establish in the wild.

The Prunus genus is often divided into 4 subgenera: #1 the almond group (Amygdalus) represented in the Southwest by desert almond (P. fasciculata), desert peach (P. andersonii), and desert apricot (P. fremontii); #2 the plum group (Prunus) represented by American plum (P. americana); #3 the cherry group (Cerasus) represented by bitter cherry (P. emarginata), black cherry (P. serotina), and choke cherry (P. virginiana); and #4 the laurel group (Laurocerasus) without any representatives in the Southwest.

Description of American plum (Prunus americana): FORM shrub or tree up to 9 meters tall; spineless or with a few spines; LEAVES simple; alternate; deciduous; blades lance-ovate; margins serrated; tips acuminate; surfaces hairless; FLOWERS regular, perfect, ovary superior, perigynous, and arranged in few-flowered, umbel-like clusters; sepals 5; petals 5, free, white, and about 8-15 mm long; pistils 1, simple, one-celled; styles 1; stigmas head-like; stamens 15-30; FRUITS drupes plum-like, reddish-purple, speckled, fleshy, 15-25 mm in diameter, one-seeded, and grooved; HABITAT mountain streams, mountain meadows, and edges of woodlands; New Mexico and the eastern United States; blooming April and May.

Description of desert peach (Prunus andersonii): FORM spiny shrub about 1-2 meters tall; LEAVES simple; alternate or clustered; deciduous; blades oblanceolate; margins finely toothed; surfaces hairless; FLOWERS regular, perfect, ovary superior, perigynous, and arranged in few-flowered, umbel-like clusters; sepals 5; petals 5, free, deep pink, and 5-9 mm long; pistils 1, simple, one-celled; styles 1; stigmas head-like; stamens 15-30; FRUITS drupes peach-like, pinkish-orange, fuzzy, about 9-15 mm in diameter, one-seeded, and with thin fleshy layers; HABITAT chaparral and juniper communities of southern California; eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains; blooming March to June.

Description of bitter cherry (Prunus emarginata): FORM spineless shrub or tree up to 6 meters tall; BARK smooth, shiny, reddish-brown to grayish-brown, and marked with horizontal streaks (lenticels); LEAVES simple; alternate; deciduous; blades oblanceolate to obovate; margins gland-toothed; FLOWERS regular, perfect, ovary superior, perigynous, and arranged in axillary corymbose racemes, with 3-11 flowers per raceme; sepals 5; petals 5, free, white; pistils 1, simple, one-celled; styles 1; stigmas head-like; stamens 15-30; FRUITS drupes cherry-like, red, bitter, juicy, and one-seeded; HABITAT mountain streams and edges of woodlands; nearly throughout the West; blooming April to July.

Description of desert almond (Prunus fasciculata): FORM spiny shrub about 1-2 meters tall; LEAVES simple; alternate or clustered; deciduous; blades narrowly oblanceolate; margins usually smooth; surfaces hairy; FLOWERS regular, perfect, ovary superior, perigynous, and arranged in few-flowered, umbel-like clusters; sepals 5; petals 5, free, white, and about 2-4 mm long; pistils 1, simple, one-celled; styles 1; stigmas head-like; stamens 15-30; FRUITS drupes almond-shaped, greenish, fuzzy, one-seeded, and with very thin fleshy layers; HABITAT desert uplands and chaparral communities of southern California, Nevada, and western Arizona; blooming March to May.

Description of desert apricot (Prunus fremontii): FORM spiny shrub or small tree about 2-4 meters tall; LEAVES simple; alternate or clustered; deciduous; blades ovate; margins finely toothed; surfaces hairless; FLOWERS regular, perfect, ovary superior, perigynous, and arranged in few-flowered, umbel-like clusters; sepals 5; petals 5, free, white, and about 4-8 mm long; pistils 1, simple, one-celled; styles 1; stigmas head-like; stamens 15-30; FRUITS drupes apricot-like, yellow, about 9-15 mm in diameter, one-seeded, and with thin fleshy layers; HABITAT chaparral communities of southern California; blooming February to April.

Description of hollyleaf cherry (Prunus ilicifolia): FORM spineless (except on the leaf margins) shrub or tree up to 14 meters tall; LEAVES simple; alternate; evergreen; holly-like; blades oval, round, egg-shaped, or lance-ovate; margins spiny; surfaces hairless and shiny; FLOWERS regular, perfect, ovary superior, and arranged in long racemes, with 15 or more flowers per raceme; sepals 5, hairless, and entire; petals 5, free, white; pistils 1, simple, one-celled; styles 1; stigmas head-like; stamens 15-30; FRUITS drupes cherry-like, red to purplish-black, 12-15 mm in diameter, and each one filled with a large pit; HABITAT chaparral communities in southern California; blooming March to May.

Description of black cherry (Prunus serotina): FORM spineless shrub or tree up to 8 meters tall; BARK smooth, shiny, reddish-brown to grayish-brown, and marked with horizontal streaks (lenticels); LEAVES simple; alternate; deciduous; blades lance-ovate; margins finely serrated; surfaces hairless; FLOWERS regular, perfect, ovary superior, perigynous, and arranged in long racemes, with 10 or more flowers per raceme; sepals 5, persistent; petals 5, free, white; pistils 1, simple, one-celled; styles 1; stigmas head-like; stamens 15-30; FRUITS drupes cherry-like, red to nearly black, sweet, juicy, and one-seeded; HABITAT mountain streams and edges of woodlands; blooming April to June. NOTES: Two varieties are currently recognized: southwestern black cherry (var. virens) characterized by hairless young twigs, petioles, and midribs; and Gila black cherry (var. rufula) where these parts are pubescent.

Description of choke cherry (Prunus virginiana): FORM spineless shrub or tree up to 8 meters tall; BARK smooth, shiny, reddish-brown to grayish-brown, and marked with horizontal streaks (lenticels); LEAVES simple; alternate; deciduous; blades lance-elliptic; margins finely serrated; surfaces hairless; FLOWERS regular, perfect, ovary superior, perigynous, and arranged in long racemes, with 10 or more flowers per raceme; sepals 5, deciduous; petals 5, free, white; pistils 1, simple, one-celled; styles 1; stigmas head-like; stamens 15-30; FRUITS drupes cherry-like, red to nearly black, sweet, juicy, and one-seeded; HABITAT edges of woodlands; blooming May to July. NOTES: Two varieties are currently recognized: western choke cherry (var. demissa) where the lower leaf surfaces are pubescent, and black choke cherry (var. melanocarpa), the more common southwestern variety, where all leaf surfaces are hairless.

REFERENCES: #1 American plum (Prunus americana): fruits Blankenship (p. 19). #2 desert peach (Prunus andersonii): fruits Ebeling (p. 375) and Yanovski (p. 32); kernels Couplan (p. 218). #3 bitter cherry (Prunus emarginata): fruits Yanovski (p. 32). #4 desert almond (Prunus fasciculata): fruits Ebeling (p. 375); kernels Couplan (p. 218). #5 desert apricot (Prunus fremontii): fruits Ebeling (p. 375); kernels Couplan (p. 218) and Hodgson (pp. 227-228). #6 hollyleaf cherry (Prunus ilicifolia): fruits Ebeling (p. 375); kernels Hodgson (pp. 227-228). #7 Gila black cherry (Prunus serotina var. rufula): fruits Miller (p. 81). #8 western black cherry (Prunus serotina var. virens): fruits Ebeling (p. 755). #9 western choke cherry (Prunus virginiana var. demissa): fruits Blankenship (pp. 19-20) and Ebeling (p. 375). #10 black choke cherry (Prunus virginiana var. melanocarpa): fruits Ebeling (p. 490).

Roses

FAMILY: Rose family (Rosaceae) – Rosa genus.

SPECIES: All species of the Rosa genus are edible. The predominant species in the southwestern United States is Wood’s rose (Rosa woodsii Lindl.).

TO UTILIZE AS FOOD: Rose hips (the fruit structures of roses) were a staple food item for nearly every civilization on Earth, and they’ll continue to be valuable into the foreseeable future. All species of the Rosa genus have edible hips (Couplan p. 229). The flower petals of many species, including Wood’s rose, are also edible.

Wood’s rose (R. woodsii) produces absolutely delicious hips. Mature hips can be red, reddish-orange, reddish-purple, or purple. Skins are hairless and spineless. Slightly past maturity, the skins begin to wrinkle and the flesh becomes soft like mashed potatoes. Gathering is best done at this point. Processing rose hips is tedious, but the final product is valuable. Stalks and remnants of withered flowers can simply be torn off and discarded. Wood’s rose hips are relatively clean, but cutting them in half to inspect for infestation is recommended. Achenes within the hips are rock hard and densely hairy. Boiling has no effect upon the achenes. They need to be removed. Attempting to remove them when the hips are fresh embeds them into the soft flesh. As rose hips dry, they become firm, leathery, and eventually hard like fingernails. Achenes are easier to remove once the hips have partially dried. The firmer texture prevents them from embedding into the flesh. At this point, vigorous shaking releases a good portion of the achenes, and the remainder can be brushed away by hand. Several pounds of hips can be processed per day with no tools required. Fruit bars are best made when the hips are firm enough to de-seed and soft enough to form into bars. Other processing options are available. Forcing whole hips through a strainer usually proves ineffective, because skins clog the strainer and smaller achenes pass right through. Rose hips need to be covered with water and thoroughly mashed for straining to be effective. The resulting beverage is fantastic, especially after concentrating. Simply eating the hips fresh off the shrubs and spitting out the achenes also works. Dried rose hips have a burgundy color and keep well in storage. Flower petals of Wood’s rose are pinkish-purple and intensely fragrant. Fresh petals taste slightly bitter, sweet, fruity, and perfume-like. Astringency is minimal and no acrid, soapy, or resinous accents are present. The texture is delicate. Rose petals make a fine addition to salads. Gathering enough for any purpose is tedious. Picking just the petals won’t compromise fruit production later in the season. Rose petals were traditionally used to flavor tea, wine, honey, desserts, vinegar, and other food items. Rose petal tea is delicious. It tastes and smells similar to the fresh petals. Dried rose petals shrivel, darken, and retain fragrant qualities. Overall, Wood’s rose is an extraordinary wild food.

IDENTIFICATION: Allegedly, about 40-50 species of the Rosa genus are found in the United States, of which 6 species occur in the Southwest, Great Basin, and southern Rocky Mountains. Only R. woodsii and R. nutkana are common. Classification of species within the Rosa genus is chaotic. Diagnostic features used to identify the species are usually shared by other species. Precise identification is unnecessary because the hips of all species are edible.

Description of Wood’s rose (Rosa woodsii var. ultramontana): FORM woody plant or shrub about 5-30 dm tall; STEMS armed with stiff, straight (or less often curved) infra-stipular prickles; LEAVES compound; alternate; pinnate; leaflets 5-9, obovate; margins single-serrated, the teeth not gland-tipped; lower surfaces hairless, puberulent, or glandular; FLOWERS regular, perfect, ovary superior (but appearing inferior), perigynous, showy, fragrant, and arranged individually or 2-3 in open corymbs; pedicels hairless; hypanthiums hairless; sepals 5, persistent; petals 5, free, pink to purple; pistils and stamens numerous; FRUITS achenes hard, bony, and enclosed within sweet, fleshy, red, or purple hypanthiums, commonly called hips; HABITAT valleys, hillsides, and clearings in forests; throughout most of the West; blooming May to July. NOTES: The Nootka rose (Rosa nutkana var. hispida) differs merely by having larger, typically solitary flowers. The Mancos rose (Rosa manca), primarily of the Canyonlands, differs by having gland-tipped teeth on double-serrated leaf margins. The desert rose (Rosa stellata), best represented in central New Mexico, is easily distinguished by its 3 small leaflets and hairy (stellate) stems. The typical Wood’s rose (Rosa woodsii var. woodsii) grows primarily on the northern Great Plains.

REFERENCES: Couplan (p. 229) indicates that the fruits of all species in the Rosa genus are edible. Wood’s rose (Rosa woodsii): petals Clarke (p. 81); fruits (hips) Blankenship (p. 21), Yanovski (p. 34), and many others.

Rubus

Raspberries, Blackberries, Dewberries, and Thimbleberries

FAMILY: Rose family (Rosaceae) – Rubus genus.

SPECIES: All species of the Rubus genus are edible. #1 Arizona dewberry (Rubus arizonensis Focke = Rubus flagellaris Willd.). #2 Himalayan or Armenian blackberry (Rubus armeniacus Focke = Rubus discolor Weihe & Nees = Rubus bifrons Vest = Rubus procerus auct. non P. J. Müll. ex Genev). #3 grayleaf raspberry (Rubus idaeus L. ssp. strigosus (Michaux) Focke). #4 whitestem raspberry (Rubus leucodermis Douglas ex Torr. & A. Gray). #5 New Mexico raspberry (Rubus neomexicanus A. Gray). #6 thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus Nutt.).

TO UTILIZE AS FOOD: Fruits of all species in the Rubus genus are edible (Couplan pp. 230-236 and Kirk p. 94). Raspberries and blackberries hardly need a description. Except for minor differences in size, taste, texture, and color, fruits of wild species (at least those sampled) are not much different than fruits of cultivated species. Fruits of species listed above ripen from late spring to early autumn depending on elevation, location, and growing conditions. Midsummer is usually the ideal harvest time. Good crops are reliable and relatively free of diseases and insect damage. The dusty white powder on the fruits of some species is a naturally occurring fungicide. Fruits of the Rubus genus have been a staple food item of the human race since we first walked on this planet, and they’ll continue to be important into the foreseeable future. Native people throughout the natural range of these remarkable plants—all continents except Antarctica—gathered and relied upon the fruits. Although the fruits are often called berries, technically they are aggregates of drupelets. All species listed above, except Himalayan blackberry, are native to North America.

Arizona dewberry (R. arizonensis) produces dark-red fruits of excellent quality. It’s a low-growing species found along mountain streams in Arizona and New Mexico. Fruit production is reliable, but insufficient. Only 1-5 fruits occur in each cluster. Fruits are juicy, seedy, and rather small. Individual drupelets are large, but each fruit consists of only a few drupelets. Tartness is well pronounced, yet well balanced with sweetness. Overall, Arizona dewberries are a fine snack.

Himalayan blackberry (R. armeniacus) produces large, juicy, hairless, slightly tart, absolutely delicious fruits. As the fruits mature, they turn from green to red and finally to purplish-black. Only purplish-black fruits taste sweet. Fruits become soft and mushy as they ripen beyond the point of perfection. Overripe fruits acquire a wine-like flavor. As with all blackberries, the receptacles (interiors of the fruits) remain attached at maturity. Those of Himalayan blackberries are soft and barely noticeable. They don’t cause any problems. The fruits are extremely juicy, which makes them ideal for beverages, but difficult to dehydrate. Blackberry juice, cider, and wine are long-time favorites. After juicing, filtering effectively removes the seeds. Himalayan blackberries often form impenetrable thickets along streams and produce tremendous amounts of fruits. Native southwestern species are rarely as productive. Cutting tools and leather gloves are recommended when collecting. Pruning won’t harm these “weeds.” In fact, it encourages new growth and increases fruit production. Himalayan blackberries are an excellent wild food taking over the Southwest.

Grayleaf raspberry (R. idaeus ssp. strigosus) produces sweet, tart, red fruits of excellent quality. Individual drupelets are covered with fine hairs. These hairs are barely noticeable when eating the fruits. Sliding the fruits off the receptacles should be easy. If they resist, they are not ripe, even if they look ripe. As with most species, the seeds are hard and tend to lodge between the teeth. Grayleaf raspberries are rather small, but they’re packed with flavor. Good things sometimes come in small packages. Ice cream, pie, cereal, or fruit salads wouldn’t be right without these fruits. Grayleaf raspberries mature in midsummer, or possibly later due to the effect of elevation on the growing season. Gathering a supply is reasonably easy, except for dodging all the spines! Crops are consistently abundant and relatively undamaged by insects and diseases. As the name grayleaf implies, undersides of the leaves are gray—from a dense covering of hairs. Overall, grayleaf raspberry provides an excellent source of food throughout the Southwest.

Whitestem raspberry (R. leucodermis) produces fruits that are purplish-black and sparsely hairy when fully ripe. Prior to maturity, they’re red. In the southwestern mountains, most fruits disappear by the end of July. Seeds of this species are fairly hard, but not rock hard. With a little effort, they can be chewed. Whitestem raspberries are fairly small, but the sweetness they contain is extraordinary. The flavor is slightly tart, but tartness and sweetness are well balanced. Mature fruits easily slide off the receptacles, while unripe fruits insist upon remaining attached. As the common name indicates, the stems are white, mainly from a covering of dusty powder. Under ideal conditions, whitestem raspberry can produce an abundance of delicious fruits awaiting a forager’s basket.

New Mexico raspberry (R. neomexicanus) produces slightly sweet, slightly tart, purple fruits of moderate quality. The shrubs are long-lived, 1-2 meters tall, and completely thornless. All of which are unusual traits for the genus. Fruits normally mature from June to August. A second crop may appear in response to summer rainfall, extending the season another month or two. Developing fruits turn from green to red and finally to purple. Beyond maturity they dry out, become a mass of seeds, and fall to the ground. Gathering is best done before they dry out. The flavor is reasonably sweet and not too tart. Seeds are fairly soft when the fruits mature, but they’re not delicately crunchy. New Mexico raspberry reliably produces fruits that remain available for several weeks. Fruits rarely persist through autumn. Any fruits found that late in the season wouldn’t have much value as food. Overall, New Mexico raspberry is a decent wild food.

Western thimbleberry (R. parviflorus) produces sweet, red fruits of good quality. Seeds are unusually delicate in this species. Only a few minor differences separate western thimbleberry from New Mexico raspberry. Both species are thornless shrubs that look similar. Western thimbleberry normally has larger leaves with pointy lobes, more fruits per cluster, and a more northern distribution. Fruits of both species are rather dry and seedy at maturity. Those of western thimbleberry taste better. Only fully ripe fruits taste appealing. Developing fruits turn from green to pink to red. Fruit production is reliable, but the fruits don’t persist. Most are gone by autumn. Overall, western thimbleberry is a fine resource found throughout the western United States.

NOTES: Additional species that occasionally enter the Southwest include: Arctic blackberry (Rubus arcticus L.); delicious raspberry (Rubus deliciosus Torr.); American red raspberry (Rubus idaeus L. ssp. idaeus); cutleaf or evergreen raspberry (Rubus laciniatus Willd.); western black raspberry (Rubus occidentalis L.); ruby blackberry (Rubus pubescens Raf.); and elmleaf blackberry (Rubus ulmifolius Schott). All of these species have edible fruits (Couplan pp. 230-236, Pardo-de-Santayana p. 159, or Yanovski pp. 34-35).

A 100 gram serving of raspberries (species unspecified) contains: 52 kilocalories, 85.75 grams of water, 1.20 g protein, 0.65 g fat, 11.94 g carbohydrates, 0.46 g ash, 25 mg calcium, 29 mg phosphorus, 22 mg magnesium, 0.69 mg iron, 0.42 mg zinc, 8 mg sodium, 151 mg potassium, 0.090 mg copper, 0.670 mg manganese, 0.2 µg selenium, 33 IU vitamin A, 26.2 mg vitamin C, 7.8 µg vitamin K, and many other nutrients. Source: USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference. Blackberries had a comparable profile.

IDENTIFICATION: Depending on the source, about 400 to 700 species of the Rubus genus are recognized worldwide. Approximately 150 species are found in the United States, of which only 6 occur in the Southwest. Most species are perennials, but individual stems (canes) only live for two years. The same plant can send up numerous stems over a period of several years. First-year stems are called primocanes and only produce leaves. Second-year stems are called floricanes and produce leaves, flowers, and fruits. Both types are normally present on the root system. Some species can bear fruits in just one year, but most species won’t bear fruits until the primocanes become floricanes in the following year.

Description of Arizona dewberry (Rubus arizonensis): FORM spiny, low-lying, thicket-forming shrub about 3-9 dm tall; spines stout and curved; LEAVES alternate; pinnately or palmately compound; leaflets 3-5, usually 5 on first-year stems (primocanes) and 3 on second-year stems (floricanes); margins double-serrated; lower surfaces green and essentially hairless; FLOWERS regular, perfect, ovary superior, and arranged in clusters, with 2-7 flowers per cluster; sepals 5, shorter than the petals; petals 5, free, white; pistils and stamens numerous; FRUITS drupelets red, hairless, and relatively few aggregated on cone-shaped receptacles; HABITAT canyons at mid elevations, especially along streams; from Arizona to Texas; blooming April to July.

Description of Himalayan blackberry (Rubus armeniacus): FORM spiny, robust, thicket-forming shrub about 7-15 dm tall; spines stout and curved; LEAVES alternate; pinnately or palmately compound; leaflets 3-5, usually 5 on first-year stems (primocanes) and 3 on second-year stems (floricanes); margins double-serrated; lower surfaces silvery from a dense covering of short hairs; FLOWERS regular, perfect, ovary superior, and arranged in clusters, with 5-30 flowers per cluster; sepals 5, shorter than petals; petals 5, free, white or tinted pinkish-purple; pistils and stamens numerous; FRUITS drupelets red, purple, or nearly black; hairless; and aggregated on cone-shaped receptacles; HABITAT moist canyons, especially along streams; throughout most of the West; blooming May to September. NOTES: Synonyms include: R. discolor, R. procerus, and R. bifrons.

Description of grayleaf raspberry (Rubus idaeus ssp. strigosus): FORM spiny shrub about 5-20 dm tall; spines dense and straight; LEAVES alternate; compound; blades pinnate; leaflets 3-7, narrowly to widely lanceolate; margins double-serrated; lower surfaces gray from a dense covering of short hairs (tomentose); FLOWERS regular, perfect, ovary superior, and arranged individually or 2-7 in clusters; hypanthiums glandular-haired; sepals 5, longer than the petals, and glandular-haired; petals 5, free, white; pistils and stamens numerous; FRUITS drupelets sweet, red, fleshy, juicy, finely hairy, and aggregated on cone-shaped receptacles; HABITAT fields, canyons, ditches, meadows, and along streams across the northern United States, southward to Arizona and New Mexico; blooming June to August. NOTES: American red raspberry (Rubus idaeus ssp. idaeus) inhabits the northern United States.

Description of whitestem raspberry (Rubus leucodermis): FORM spiny shrub about 9-25 dm tall with long, arching, dusty, white stems; spines stout and curved; LEAVES alternate; pinnately or palmately compound; leaflets 3-5, usually 5 on first-year stems (primocanes) and 3 on second-year stems (floricanes); FLOWERS regular, perfect, ovary superior, and arranged in clusters, with 2-7 flowers per cluster; sepals 5, longer than the petals; petals 5, free, white; pistils and stamens numerous; FRUITS drupelets purple, finely hairy, and aggregated on cone-shaped receptacles; HABITAT moist areas; throughout most of the western United States and Canada; blooming April to July.

Description of New Mexico raspberry (Rubus neomexicanus): FORM spineless shrub about 5-25 dm tall; LEAVES alternate; simple; blades 3-8 cm wide by equally long, and palmately 3-5-lobed; the lobes obtuse or rounded; margins irregularly toothed; surfaces soft-haired; FLOWERS regular, perfect, ovary superior, and arranged individually or 2-3 in clusters; sepals 5; petals 5, free, white or pinkish; pistils and stamens numerous; styles hairy; FRUITS drupelets red or purple, moderately juicy, and aggregated on cone-shaped receptacles; HABITAT moist canyons and mountainsides; primarily of Arizona and New Mexico; blooming April to October.

Description of western thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus): FORM spineless shrub about 5-25 dm tall; LEAVES simple; alternate; blades 6-22 cm wide by equally long, and palmately 3-7-lobed; the lobes acute or obtuse; margins irregularly toothed; surfaces glandular-haired; FLOWERS regular, perfect, ovary superior, and usually arranged in clusters, with 2-5 per cluster; sepals 5; petals 5, free, white or pinkish; pistils and stamens numerous; styles hairless; FRUITS drupelets red or purple, sweet, fleshy, juicy, finely hairy, and aggregated on cone-shaped receptacles; HABITAT moist canyons and mountainsides; throughout northern North America, southward to Arizona and New Mexico; blooming May to August.

REFERENCES: Couplan (pp. 230-236) and Kirk (p. 94) state that the fruits of all species in the Rubus genus are edible. #1 Arizona dewberry (Rubus arizonensis): fruits Castetter (1936 p. 44) and Moerman (p. 225). #2 Himalayan blackberry (Rubus armeniacus = Rubus discolor = Rubus bifrons): fruits DiTomaso (2003 pp. 348-352). #3 grayleaf raspberry (Rubus idaeus ssp. strigosus): fruits Yanovski (p. 34). #4 whitestem raspberry (Rubus leucodermis): fruits Yanovski (p. 34). #5 New Mexico raspberry (Rubus neomexicanus): fruits No specific references to edibility. #6 thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus): fruits Yanovski (pp. 34-35).

Salad Burnet

FAMILY: Rose family (Rosaceae) – Sanguisorba genus.

SPECIES: Salad, garden, or small burnet (Sanguisorba minor Scop. = Poterium sanguisorba L.).

TO UTILIZE AS FOOD: The leaves are edible, fresh or cooked, and reasonably good either way. Salad burnet and other species in the genus are cultivated as leafy vegetables (Hanelt pp. 452-453). Wild plants may be more astringent than cultivated plants. Very few members of the rose family have edible leaves. Burnets are an exception. Salad burnet isn’t the best salad plant on Earth, but it’s not the worst. The leaves taste robust, slightly bitter, and similar to clovers. Other authors have described the flavor as similar to cucumbers or melons. Salad burnet leaves provide an interesting contrast to milder greens. The texture is chewable, slightly mucilaginous, and slightly stringy. The leaves are pinnate. All parts of young leaves are tender. Lower portions of the rachises (stem-like parts where the leaflets attach) become stringy as the leaves age. Leaflets remain tender regardless of age. Pulling leaflets off the rachises is impractical and unnecessary. Salad burnet is slightly more appealing fresh than cooked. Boiling draws out bitterness and highlights mucilage. These unappealing aspects are weak and insignificant. Leaves can be added directly to soup. No change of cooking water is necessary. The dull-green broth has the same clover-like flavor of fresh leaves. Salad burnet is native to temperate regions of Europe and Asia. It was never a part of the Native American diet because it wasn’t available in North America prior to the European settlement. Salad burnet is now found on all continents except Antarctica. Unlike many successful plants, it’s not considered a weed. It was spared that indignation. As a vegetable, it was more popular in the past than it is today. In the western United States, foragers can find it in the mountains. Overall, salad burnet is a decent wild food.

NOTES: Even though salad burnet is common, finding it was not easy. After some diligent searching, I finally found it along Reynolds Creek in the evergreen forests of central Arizona. Based on the flavor of those colonies thriving in the filtered shade of whispering pines, salad burnet is a good plant, but I don’t quite see its potential for cultivation. The pioneers might have disagreed with this statement. Salad burnet was among the first plants brought to the “New World” as a garden vegetable. In a world of harsh flavors, anything mild is always a welcome addition to the diet, and salad burnet is mild. I never noticed any cucumber-like or melon-like accents reported by some authors. Instead, the flavor was clearly allied with clovers (of the unrelated Trifolium genus). The perennial lifespan of salad burnet means that gathering a few leaves won’t harm the plants. They will send up new leaves the following season. Overall, salad burnet is definitely worth trying.

IDENTIFICATION: The Sanguisorba genus is currently represented by 4 species in the United States, of which, only salad burnet (S. minor) is likely to be encountered in the Southwest. The 4 sepals and lack of petals are distinctive. Most herbaceous members of the rose family have 5 sepals and 5 petals.

Description of salad burnet (Sanguisorba minor): FORM nonnative perennial plant about 20-50 cm tall; LEAVES compound; alternate; odd pinnate; leaflets 9-23, ovate; margins coarsely toothed; FLOWERS regular, perfect or unisexual, ovary superior, and arranged in terminal head-like clusters; bractlets 0; sepals 4, white, green, purple, or reddish-brown; petals 0; pistils 2; stigmas brush-like; stamens 8-12; FRUITS achenes enclosed by sculptured, 4-angled-winged hypanthiums; HABITAT woodlands, often with oak, pine, or aspen; found throughout most of the West; blooming May to August.

REFERENCES: Salad burnet (Sanguisorba minor): leaves Couplan (p. 236), Fernald (pp. 238-239), Hanelt (pp. 452-453), and Wright (2001-a p. 75).

Western Mountain Ash

FAMILY: Rose family (Rosaceae) – Sorbus genus.

SPECIES: Western, Cascade, Green’s, or shrubby mountain ash (Sorbus scopulina Greene).

TO UTILIZE AS FOOD: Warning! Seeds of a related European species called rowan tree (S. aucuparia) contain toxic cyanogenic glycosides. It’s highly likely that seeds of species discussed here also contain these toxins. As a precaution, the fruits should be thoroughly boiled. Even fruits of a cultivated species called service tree (S. domestica) require processing (Hanelt p. 484). Fruits of most native North American mountain ashes were utilized as food by Native Americans (Elias p. 254, Meuninck p. 41, and Vizgirdas p. 160). Mountain ashes are not related to true ash trees (Fraxinus genus) of the olive family (Oleaceae), but the leaves bear some resemblance.

Fruits (berry-like pomes) of all species in the Sorbus genus are thought to be edible (Fern pp. 30-31 and Fernald p. 230) after processing. Fully ripe fruits of western mountain ash (S. scopulina) are indeed reported to be edible. When gathered at peak ripeness, they taste reasonably good. The favor is variable degrees of tart, foul, bitter, and sweet. It’s similar to the rinds of citrus fruits with a honeysuckle accent. Developing fruits turn from green to orange and finally to deep reddish-orange. Slightly overripe fruits begin to wrinkle. Gathering too far beyond maturity offers no advantage because fungi replace any improvements in flavor. Perhaps this is not an issue in more northern latitudes where gathering the fruits after a few frosts is recommended. Western mountain ash fruits are soft and juicy. Even the tan seeds inside are soft. Pulp is reddish-orange. Individual fruits readily detach from the clusters, which eases the task of gathering. Although the fruits can be eaten raw (Vizgirdas p. 160), cooking improves palatability and minimizes risks from potentially harmful compounds. Raw fruits may taste too strong for some people. Cooked fruits taste milder. Simmering reduces tartness and yields an orange broth tasting similar to the fresh fruits. It also reduces any foulness and bitterness. Attempting to form the fruits into bars is difficult. The bars tend to flake apart because the fruits aren’t very sticky. The fruits contain significant amounts of pectin, which makes them suitable for jam and jelly recipes, but fruit-bar recipes don’t seem to be the right application for this wild food. Western mountain ash fruits are an autumn resource, rarely persisting into winter. Bugs don’t seem interested in these fruits, but fungi can be a serious problem. Overall, western mountain ash fruits are a decent resource, but the trees are uncommon in the southwestern United States.

NOTES: Fruits of a closely related, shrub-like species called shrubby mountain ash (Sorbus dumosa) can presumably be used like those of western mountain ash (Sorbus scopulina). Some authorities (including the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) don’t recognize shrubby mountain ash as a species and instead consider it to be western mountain ash, meaning the two are the same species. Some Arizona members of the Sorbus genus that I observed in the Pinaleno Mountains definitely had a shrubby form consistent with the descriptions for shrubby mountain ash, so in my opinion, recognition of this species seems justified. Fruits of those shrubs were essentially the same as fruits of western mountain ash. I didn’t notice any significant differences in the taste, texture, aroma, size, color, or other aspects. Overall fruit availability seemed a little meager, but I suspect that was due to the high bear population in the Pinaleno Mountains rather than a lack of fruit production. I was probably lucky any fruits were available.

IDENTIFICATION: The Sorbus genus is represented by about 10 species in the United States, of which only 2 occur in the Southwest.

Description of shrubby mountain ash (Sorbus dumosa): FORM thornless shrub about 2-4 meters tall; winter buds densely hairy; LEAVES compound; alternate; odd pinnate; leaflets 9-13, lance-elliptic, and about 20-50 mm long; margins serrate; FLOWERS regular, perfect, ovary inferior, and arranged in dense, rounded clusters about 3-7 cm wide; sepals 5; petals 5, free, white; pistils 1, compound, with 2-5 united carpels; styles 3; stamens 15-20; FRUITS pomes orange or reddish-orange; HABITAT mountains, canyons, and edges of woodlands; in sun or shade; Arizona and New Mexico; blooming June and July.

Description of western mountain ash (Sorbus scopulina): FORM thornless tree about 3-6 meters tall; winter buds glossy, sticky, and sparsely hairy; LEAVES compound; alternate; odd pinnate; leaflets 11-15, lance-elliptic, and about 40-70 mm long; margins single or double serrated; FLOWERS regular, perfect, ovary inferior, and arranged in dense, terminal, flat-topped clusters about 7-15 cm wide; sepals 5; petals 5, free, white; pistils 1, compound, with 2-5 united carpels; styles 3-5; stamens 15-20; FRUITS pomes orange or reddish-orange; HABITAT mountains and edges of woodlands; nearly throughout western North America; blooming June and July.

REFERENCES: Western mountain ash (Sorbus scopulina): fruits Elias (p. 254) and Facciola (p. 211).