Saturday, August 29, 2009

Can you ID this plant?

Does anyone know what kind of plant this is? We found it on a mountain
in north-central Maine. I assumed it was a juniper until I read that
juniper leaves are sharp and prickly, and the berries too bitter to be
eaten raw. The leaves of this plant were not prickly, and the berries
were sweet.

1 comment:

  1. Joe Choiniere, director of Wachusett Meadow Wildlife Sanctuary and naturalist extraordinaire, thinks this might be black crowberry, empetrum nigrum. After googling some images, I believe he is correct. The berry is indeed edible. Flavor is said be bland when raw, but pleasantly enhanced with cooking.

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