Juniper berries

Juniperis communis ssp alpina  (2023 J. communis var. keeley or var. depressa)
Cupressaceae cypres family
Kusawa sept 16 2009

Ah, so Juniperus is a relative to the big Cypress tree, i learn something everyday :)

there are 3 different kinds of Juniper berry bushes.

I use the berries cooking wild meat, adding a few.
In the winter i will once in a while make a potent tea.

water melon berry

twisted- stalk

Streptopus amplexifolius ssp americanus
Liliaceae lily family

Sept 7 2009, Rainy Hollow (BC)

mmmmm such a delightful berry
taste; sweet and watery
but is edible!
and the jelly very delicious, but for years now i haven't picked enough of them to make jelly.
This morning we had them in pancakes, with other Rainy Hollow berries

The berries first yellow then red and later dark.

trailing black currant

Yet another black currant
It took me forever to positively identify this one,
but now i see it, it is kind of obvious.


Ribes laxiflorum
formerly saxifragaceae saxifrage family
now Grossulariaceae, bittersweet family


Sept 7 2009 Rainy Hollow (BC)

laxus - loose, distant

It looks like this bush has dropped most of its berries, or have they been eaten?
Very unlikely by people, i find that this berry is yet harder to get to than the blueberries in Rainy Hollow. And not that abundant.
I find the taste superior to that of the black currants around my house, which are R. hudsonianum and R. lacustre.

tall blueberry

just another picture of my favorite berry
vaccinium ovalifolium
Rainy Hollow sept 7 2009

dwarf blueberry

(called dwarf bilberry by Cody)

vaccinium caespitosum
Ericaceae heath family

September 7 2009
Haines Summit (BC)

caespitosum - mat forming

Northern Gooseberry

Ribes oxyacanthoides ssp oxyacanthhoides
My own yard, wild. photo taken July 2008.

formerly Saxifragaceae Saxifrage family
now Grossulariaceae, gooseberry family

oxyacanthoides - sharp/ sour
well the berries not so sour as most of its cousins here, but the thorns most sharp and abundant. hard to pick berry! But the taste very good.

black currant jam

Only part of the bounty today, Aug. 1 2009.
Mostly black currants. (see Ribes) a few strawberries (Fragaria) and some raspberries (Rubus) and very few gooseberries (Ribes)


Yesterday Pat and i picked, some 5 litres raspberries and say 4 litres blackcurrants.
He made raspberry vinegar. According to him only to be done with wild berries, (domestic berries not enough flavor)
He used 3 litres white vinegar
I think; 1 pound raspberries (i'll ask him)
boiled it, let i stand, and strained it.
Beautiful clear red liquid.

Angela(Pat's wife) i hope you will send me the recipe for the salad dressing, made with it.(Thanks:)

I cooked up my 2 litres of blackcurrants, as you see them, leaves and sticks picked out.

I dry the leaves for tea.

I boiled the berries with one bag of brown sugar, boiled till the desired consistency,
4 pints of jam.

As you see i am not much good for recipes. I fling it, it mostly works out deliciously so.

Blue berry

Vaccinium uliginosum
Ericceae - Heath family

Along Moose-skull lake, North of Mendenhall subdivision
July 31 2009



Fire Tower Mountain, right above the tree-line, July 27 2009

The berry at least 1cm long.
Hmmmm i still think that there is more than one species of blueberries around here, this one just above the tree line.
This one in the photo definitely a crawling plant, very close to the ground.
According to the books the same species.


Vaccinium - It's Latin name
uliginosum - of wet or marshy areas

Strawberry

here, july 1 2009


Fragaria virginiana ssp glauca
Rosaceae, Rose family

photo taken at stony Creek on July 1
But the strawberries grow everywhere! Just the fruit best at Stony.

Fragaria? fragile or fragrance, maybe both?
virginiana - hmmm... you know i didn't study Latin or anything,
so does this mean from Virginia(State) or referring to virgin as in... pure?
glauca - sea green

Apparently, our only wild strawberry in the Yukon has leaves more blue-green than other species.