Mission Statement

My goal with mande plants is to teach about medicinal and edible plants, show how to grow these plants, where to find these plants, and how to use these plants. There are many useful botanicals in our world. I will growing seasonal crops and perennial edibles using organic methods as best as possible. One of my long term goals is to grow a temperate food forest garden. As I grow new plants and harvest them I will be sharing photos and details on this blog. All photos on this blog are taken by me. If you like this blog and you would like to help me further my research you can use the paypal donate button on the right. All donations will be used to buy tools, plants, seeds, and pay for expenses needed to develop gardens.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Fruits of the Mountains part 1

The Sierra Nevada mountain range has plenty of edible fruit as well as not so edible. Some fruit may be completely edible, some edible when cooked, and others not edible at all. In this post I will give a brief overview on some of the Fruits of the Mountains.

Prunus emarginata - Bitter Cherry

Bitter Cherry is high in Hydrogen Cyanide, which is toxic. Hydrogen Cyanide is volatile and destroyed by heat when cooked. This is a fruit you would not want to eat raw.

Streptopus amplexifolius - Twisted Stalk

Twisted Stalk berries are edible but have a slight laxative effect. The Berries have a cucumber like flavor.

Lonicera involucrata - Twin Berry

An Edible Berry from the Honey Suckle Family

Marah horridus - Wild Cucumber

While in the same family as the cucumber its not a true wild form of the domesticated cucumber. When cut in half the inside does resemble and smell like a cucumber. The flavor is that of cucumber with a bitter overtone. This fruit is very laxative. I do not recommend eating of this fruit as I have not been able to confirm if this is edible.

Rhamnus rubra - Sierra Coffeeberry

Sierra Coffeeberry is in the Buckthorn family and is not related to Coffee (Coffea spp.). The Berry has laxative propertied and is not recommended as edible.

Cornus nuttallii - Dogwood

Dogwood fruits are edible. The flavor is mild and not really noteworthy in my opinion. Dogwoods are found in shaded area growing under larger trees.

Ribes roezlii - Sierra Gooseberry

The Sierra Gooseberry has a lot of flavor and pulp for a wild berry. Because their are thorns on the outside of the fruit they can be a little tedious to pick and eat. If one cuts the fruit in half they can scoop out the pulp to enjoy.

2 comments:

  1. seems like I would not weant to eat the majority of these...

    ReplyDelete
  2. There are a few here I would not recommend eating.

    ReplyDelete