Saturday, May 26, 2012

kinnikinnick

May 26 2012  mountain behind mendenhall subdivision
May 26 2013, in the subdivision
the berries stay on.


Saturday, May 12, 2012

soap berry

sept 4 2012
They taste sweet at first and then there is this burst...of soapberry taste

and i have been using them to do dishes, and they actually work quite well



female flowers ( the ones producing berries)



Sheperdia canadenssis
Elaeagnaceae oleaster family

 photo taken on the hill here in Mendenhall subdivision May 12 2012
 It is blooming now, It's berries are bright red I do not pick the berries they are very tart, some people do make indian icecream with them. i do not know anybody who likes it. Yet to nibble on one berry is kind of refreshing, i will describe the taste in the fall when actually nibbling
 Shepherdia named after English botanist, W. Shepherd, 1764-1836
and soapberry because this berry contains saponin.
male flowers
a close up from the flower on May 27 2012,
update july 2016, as i have many soapberry bushes in the yard, and use them for doing dishes, I learn that they are dioecious yet i wonder in what way, because, the same plant will one year produce fruits and other years not and the other way around. The one closest to the house around the old swing poplar, hardly ever has fruit but does so , lots, this year ( 2016)

Juniperus horizontalis

sept.2012
on the bluffs along mendenhall river meadows

creeping juniper
The male flowers (top) on separate plants as the female flowers (bottom).
It apparently takes 18 months for the berries to ripen, and become a purple/blue berry.

the two bottom photos taken on May 11 2012 on the high banks of the Takhini river