The Future is Abundant
A Guide to Sustainable Agriculture

Back to the Table of Contents

Native Berries

There are native berries adapted to almost every Northwest landscape, from timberline to ocean shore, from dense forest to open plainsl In many forest ecosystems, berry plants play a pioneer role by quickly and densely colonizing disturbed land. After a fire, clearcut, or natural landslide, there is often a profusion of berries until the forest trees grow through and shade them out. In some cases this will take only five or ten years-- in others it takes much longer.

Some berry species are intolerant of shade and die out quickly, but others, such as salal (Gaultheria shallon), some huckleberries (Vaccinum spp.) and thimbleberries (Rubus parviflorus) persist for many years in the gradually deepening shade. Thimbleberry grows in dense thickets under a full canopy of alder, birch or aspen.

Berries are an excellent food, containing many vitamins and easily available sugars. The edible berries of the Northwest were well known to the native peoples who dried them into cakes or used them in pemmican, a high calorie, easily preserved food made from berries mixed with dried meat and fat, and pounded into cakes. Almost all wild berries are good processed into jams, jellies, concentrates, juices and syrup.

Edible berries are found in a wide variety of genera. They vary in their growth habits from cane plants to small shrubs to large woody shrubs and even small trees. Berry plants can be propagated by root cuttings, suckers or tip layering. Plants which are noted for the quantity, size, or tastiness of their berries, or for their resistance to pests or adverse conditions, can be used for breeding improved varieties.

Following are descriptions by genus of some of the most important or useful native berries.

Ribes

There are over 200 Ribes species in the world, of which over 30 are native to the Northwest. Gooseberries and currants ar of this genus. Native species are found in almost every type of habitat in the Northwest. The berries are small, and either acid or insipid. the berries contain pectin and are good additions to other berries when making jelly or jam.

Unfortunately, the Ribes are host plants for white pine blister rust, which has infected white pines throughout its range. The Forest Service conducted a campaign in northern Idaho in the 1930's to eliminate the Ribes from areas where western white pine is an important timber tree. The campaign was not successful, and the disease remains a serious problem. Check with local officials to see if there is a quarantine in your area before introducing any Ribes plants.

Common Wild Gooseberry

(R. divaricatum) is armed with spines at all joints of the stems. Gooseberries are found in coastal forests and along roadways from British Columbia to California. the berries may be used green or ripe for jam, jelly, pies and wine.

Flowering Currant, Red Flowered Currant

(R. sanguineum) is a thornless bush two to ten feet high. It is best known as a flowering shrub growing in low elevations along the coast. The berries are better cooked than fresh, and are most often dried.

Vaccinium

The Vaccinium genus includes the huckleberries, blueberries, cranberries, bilberries and whortleberries. There are about 130 species of Vaccinium in the northern hemisphere, of which 16 are native to the Pacific Northwest. These species range from eight-inch shrubs to six-foor bushes. They flower in the spring, and the berries ripen from July to October.

Huckleberries ar the most widely used wild berry in the region. The US Forest Service estimates that huckleberry fields occupy over 100,000 acres in Washington and Oregon, with several hundred tons of berries harvested annually in the Puget Sound region alone. In the Maritime there are species found at every elevation, and as a general rule, the higher the elevation the tastier the huckleberries. There are fewer species of huckleberries in the Interior, and they are usually found at elevations above 3,000 feet as an understory in moist forests. Some Vaccinum species of note are:

Big Huckleberry

(V. membranaceum) is related to the commercial blueberry. It was the most widely used Vaccinium by the Native Americans of the Northwest. They kept the huckleberry stands open and productive by periodically burning them. Yields of Big Huckleberry can reach 100 gallons an acre. At the 1981 market price of $10 to $20 per gallon, picking huckleberries can be a rewarding seasonal job.

Blueleaf Huckleberry, Alpine Blueberry or Rainier Blueberry

(V. deliciosum) is a common berry found near the timberline in the subalpine forest zone of the Cascades. It is almost always found above 5,500 feet. The clear mountain air and cool climate help make these berries especially sweet and flavorful. The shrubs form a dense, scrubby ground cover 12 inches high so picking is done on hands and knees.

Amelanchier

There are many local variations, but at least 25 different species of this genus are recognized, with two native to the Pacific Northwest, Amelanchier almifolia and A. utahensis. A. alnifolia is found throughout the Northwest, while A. utahensis is found only in the dry, southern part of the region. They are both commonly called serviceberry, but some say "sarviceberry," and in western Canada they are called Saskatoon berries.

The importance of the serviceberry among the native fruits of the Interior is demonstrated by the following quote by Nancy Turner from Food Plants of British Columbia Indians

Of all the berries and fruits eaten by the Interior Indians of British Columbia, this was the most popular and most widely used, especially in the southern and central Interior. Among the northern groups, such as the Beaver and Slave, Saskatoons were often the only type of vegetable food available in any quantity. So important were these berries that the various interior Salish groups have developed a classification for different varieties of Saskatoon which is far more detailed and complex than that of professional taxonomists. On the basis of habitat, blooming and ripening time, growth form, and size, colour, seediness, and taste of the berries, they distinguish many varieties, each with its own particular advantages and disadvantages as a food.

The serviceberry commonly grows 10 to 15 feet tall, but on good sites it can reach 25 feet. It is remarably hardy, being found in open woodland and in the driest of landscapes, as long as there is a rock fracture or slide into which it can sink its tenacious roots. This is a plant which could be of great value in rehabilitating the arid and semiarid landscapes of the Interior.

Sambucus

Blue Elderberry

(Sambucus caerulea) is the blue elder of the Interior Pacific Northwest, native from British Columbia to California, and as far east as Montana and Utah. It is considered the best of the six edible species found around the world. Blue elderberry grows to thirty feet in height on good sites. It sometimes takes the form of a tree, but usually grows as a many-stemmed shrub. The valleys of the eastern slopes of the Washington Cascades contain the region's densest stands. A good way to harvest elderberry clusters is to pull them down with long, hooked poles or with long-handled pole loppers such as those used in orchard pruning.

Red Elderberry

(Sambucus racemosa) was used by the Northwest native peoples. The berries were usually mixed with other berries to make them palatable. The sap of this plant is poisonous.

Viburnum

There are about 120 species of Viburnum scattered across the Northern Hemisphere, of which three are native to the Pacific Northwest. The Viburnums are considered among the most valuable genera of ornamental shrubs in the world. Besides showy flowers and decorative fruit, Viburnums have handsome foliage which turns to bright colors in autumn. A number of North American species, including two in the Pacific Northwest, yield edible berries.

Squashberry

(V. edule) is native throughout the forests of British Columbia, Washington, Idaho, Montana and northern Oregon. It forms a shrub from 1 1/2 inches to 8 feet tall in moist woods, along streambanks and swamps, and at the edges of bogs. The bright red berries are tart, with a cranberry-like flavor. They were picked by the native peoples while hard and sour and stored for winter use, or allowed to ripen on the bush (usually after frost) and then eaten at feasts.

Highbush Cranberry

(V. opulus), also know as wild guelder-rose or snowball, is found primarily in British Columbia. It prefers moist woods, and grows in thickets along streams bordering low woods, or by fences and walls. It has tasty, acid berries.

Rubus

There are over 400 species in the Rubus genus worldwide. The genus includes domesticated blackberries, raspberries, loganberries and boysenberries, as well as native dewberries, salmonberries and thimbleberries. At lease 12 species are native to the Pacific Northwest. They are an important source of wild food for animals and birds.

Salmonberry

(R. spectabilis) is common on wet sites throughout much of the Maritime. It is especially widespread near coastal areas and in the coast ranges. Salmonberries form dense thickets under red alder in shady swamps and in moist sites along roadsides. The yellow or orange berries are generally tasty. The Native Americans ate them fresh but considered them too watery for drying.

Thimbleberry

(R. parviflorus) has large, maple-shaped leaves which make the 3 to 5 foot thornless bushes easily identifiable throughout the season. The tasty red berries were eaten fresh and dried by the Native Americans. Thimbleberries grow in clearings, along roadsides and shorelines, and in open woods. They are among the most shade tolerant of the native berries.

Dewberry or Trailing Blackberry

(R. ursinus) is an indigenous blackberry that forms trailing canes up to 20 feet long. It grows in clearings throughout the Maritime and in the moist forests of Idaho. Several select cultivars have been developed, including thornless varieties.

Himalaya Blackberry

(R. procerus) and

Evergreen Blackberry

(R. lacianatus) are non-native berries which have become prominent members of the landscape throughout the Maritime lowlands. They are a widely available free food during their season. The Himalaya blackberries (developed by Luther Burbank) are sweeter and softer than the Evergreen. Both are excellent eaten out of hand or processed. Jam makers buy them from local pickers, providing many people with an important source of seasonal income. There are tasty blackberry varieties available from nurseries which are small inform and not as invasive as the wild plants.

Blackcap Raspberry

(R. leucodermis) is a raspberry-like plant whose berries turn purple-black when ripe. The fruits are drier than red raspberries but have a good flavor. The plant prefers sunny locations, and can take a drier soil than any of the other Rubus species.

Rosa

Wild roses are widespread throughout the north temperate regions of the world, with six species native to the Northwest. Though few people consider them berry plants, the fruits, or rosehips, are well worth harvesting for their Vitamin C content. They can be dried whole and crushed to use for tea, or the seeds can be scraped out and the pulp preserved with honey and added to a small amount of brandy for cough syrup. Rosehips also make a fine wine. Strings of red "hip-beads" are often hung on Christmas trees and walls for winter decoration or used by children to make necklaces.

Nootka Rose

(Rosa nutkana) yields the largest and tastiest native rosehips. It is common along roadsides, shorelines, and in meadows of moist, open woods, where it often forms dense thichets. Nootka rose also has the largest flowers of the native Western roses.

Woods Rose

(Rosa woodsii) is found on the edges of hte sagebrush/bunchgrass areas in the Interior. Their summer green and autumn red help brighten up the arid landscape.

Other Berries

Salal

(Gaultheria shallon) is common throughout the Maritime, where it forms dense evergreen thickets of oval, glossy-leaved bushes in disturbed sites. It also grows in thin stands in humid forests up to 2,500 feet in elevation, and in the moist forests of the Interior. The berries are sweet and juicy and can be processed into jams and jellies. They are sometimes combined with Oregon grape, gooseberries or other more acid fruits. Salal berries were dried in large quantities by natives for winter use. They do not stay on the bushes very long once they are ripe, so they must be picked promptly.

Oregon Grape

(Berberis spp.) is very drought tolerant and has been widely used as an ornamental both here and abroad because of its glossy, holly-like leaves and attractive yellow flowers. The dark blue berries are generally ignored, except by the few who like the fine flavor beneath their puckeriness. They contain pectin and are good for jellies, either by themselves or with other fruits or berries. They also make one of the finest native berry wines. The roots of the Oregon grape are bright yellow and are used to make dye of the same color.

Bunchberry

(Cornus canadensis) is a diminutive relative of the Pacific Dogwood. It is a perennial ground cover plant which seldom reaches 12 inches in height. In moist woods it spreads by underground rhizomes, often forming dense mats. The bright red, pulpy berries are sweet and tasty and the flowers are exquisite. There is a demand for this plant as an ornamental ground cover for shady locations.

The Future is Abundant A Guide to Sustainable Agriculture