#bearberry

A Lodgepole pine cone rests among pine needles and bearberry: Beartooth Range, Wyoming

Kinnikinnick, also known as Bearberry

Arctostaphylos uva-ursi

7. 【Ｂｅａｒｂｅｒｒｙ】

The ancient magical properties of Bearberry include psychic power, strength, knowledge, courage, & honouring your ancestors.

Find:is common in woodlands on sandy hills, exposed rocks, eskers and river banks.

Description: It forms large mats, with spatula-shaped,smooth-edged, evergreen leaves,pinkish-white urn-shaped flowers,and dull red edible but mealy berries.

Edible Parts and uses:tea made from the roots that can be drunk to treat a persistent cough or to slow excessive menstrual bleeding and to bring on menstruation.The leaf decoction can be drunk to treat bladder and kidney problems.

Precautions:While bearberry is highly beneficial, specifically for the urinary system, it should not be used for more than five days at a time. Hydroquinone is a powerful compound that will kill bacteria, however, overuse can cause damage to the liver.Not recommended for children, or women who are pregnant or breastfeeding. People with high blood pressure or people who suffer from Crohns disease, digestive problems, ulcers, kidney or liver disease should avoid Bearberry products.

Blueberry

Find:full sun, but will tolerate partial shade.

Description:Blueberry is a crown forming, woody, perennial shrub in the family Ericaceae grown for its fruits, or berries, of the same name. The blueberry plant possesses oval or elliptical leaves which grow alternately on the stems. The stems, or twigs, are yellow/green in color and turn reddish in winter. Flowers are bell shaped and can be either white or pink, occurring in clusters of 8 to 10 flowers. Berries are blue to black in color and 0.6–1.3 cm (0.25–0.5 in) in size.

Edible parts and uses:Blueberries can be eaten fresh or can be dried or baked for further processing. Frozen or pureed berries are commonly used to make jams and preserves and baked goods. Lowbush blueberry is commonly used to make wine.leaves,the best time of year to harvest them is in the fall when their colour changes.

Precautions:Drinks made with freeze-dried blueberries might cause constipation, diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting in some people.

Bunchberry

Find:prefers shade, it will tolerate some light.

Description:ground cover is a petite ground-hugging perennial plant that reaches only 8 inches (20 cm.) at maturity and spreads by underground rhizomes. It has a woody stem and four to seven leaves that are set up in a whorled pattern at the tip of the stem.

Edible parts and uses:The fruits can be consumed raw or cooked.Harvest late summer to early fall.Use them in puddings and sauces or dried them for winter use. The fruit is said to be rich in pectin.

Precautions: Don't eat the leafs.

Canada Buffaloberry

Find:sun-loving.

Description:shrub with long thorns and beautiful silvery leaves.Deciduous shrub with opposite branches and opposite leaves; Underside of leaves covered in silver hairs and rust-colored dots.

Berry Edible and leaves can also be harvested for tea.Fruit ripens in late summer and should be picked slightly under ripe when making jellies because of the higher pectin levels.Dried added to stews and puddings. Fresh berries are cooked to make syrup, sauce, or jelly.

Precautions:For humans, these berries have a very strong, bitter and are an acquired taste. Often a first reaction is to spit them out.

Choke Cherry Black-Fruited/Red-Fruited

Find:near water sources and on older homesteads.

Description:Chokecherry trees bear 3- to 6-inch (7.5-15 cm.) long creamy white blooms, which become dark red fleshy fruit, maturing into a mature purple black with a pit in the center.Harvest chokecherry fruit in the fall.

Edible parts and uses:This fruit is used to make jams, jellies,syrups and wines.

Precautions:The leaves, stems and seeds contain a toxin, called hydrocyanic acid, which may rarely cause poisoning in domestic animals.Poisoning signs are distress, bluish tinge to the mouth, rapid breathing, salivation, muscle spasm, and finally coma and death.

Cloudberry

Find:plant grows in peat bogs and peaty forests.

Description:unripe berries are hard and reddish.ripe berries are salmon-colored.stems are unbranched, slender and wiry.leaves are broader than long, and have five lobes.The cloudberry plant is a small herb growing up to a height of just anything between 10 cm and 25 cm (4 inches and 10 inches). This plant produces alternate leaves that have 5 to seven lobes similar in appearance to the human hand on erect stalks that are branchless. Each cloudberry fruit comprises about 5 to 25 drupelets. In the beginning the fruits have a pale red hue, which changes to an amber color when they ripen in early autumn.

Edible parts and uses:berry is an ingredient in many desserts, jams, confections and alcoholic beverages.The leaves of cloudberry are used to prepare an herbal tea.

Cosmetics:For dry and sensitive skin, a mask is prepared in which crushed berries are mixed .For hair,1 cup cloudberry infusion+1 egg.The ingredients are thoroughly mixed and whipped. The mixture is rubbed into the skin of the head and applied along the length of the curls. Stand for half an hour and wash off with warm water.

Precautions:no side effects.

Cranberry Bog

Find:part shade, sun and bogs.

Description:small creeping shrub, appearing in single to densely clustered stalks as a ground cover. It has small evergreen leaves (3-10 mm) with a leathery texture and alternating growth pattern. They are deep green and shiny on the surface, grey-waxy underneath, and have rolled under edges.Harvest September to early October.

Edible parts and uses:Fruit can be eaten raw or cooked.

Precautions:no side effects.

Crowberry

Find:full sun environments.Sandy locations,inhabits bogs and openings in bog forests.

Description:Crowberry has narrow, simple leaves. Their sides are curled backwards. Leaves are light green and alternately arranged on the stem. Fruit of crowberry is black, dark purple or red berry-like drupe. Fruit ripens in the fall and remains on the shrub until the spring making it a great source of food in the winter. The berries are about the size of a pea.

Edible parts and uses:The berries are the only edible part although the twigs can be used as tea. They ripen in autumn and remain on the bush throughout the winter. Crowberries can be eaten raw but taste better after they have been exposed to a heavy frost. The taste somewhat acrid and are generally used for making pies, wine, jams, jellies, etc.

Precautions:no side effects.

Currant-Northern Black-Swamp Red-Wild Black

Find:prefers damp fertile soils.Often found around old homesteads.

Description:Stems are erect to ascending. As the shrub ages, stems become brownish to gray and lack spines or prickles.New twig growth is green, with a mix of glandular and non-glandular hairs. It becomes smooth and dark reddish with white lenticels.Ribes triste typically reaches heights up to 1 metre (3’).shrubs have leaves with three to five shallow lobes with bluntly toothed edges and palmate veins. The leaves are alternate and are usually wider than they are long. They measure on average 8cm (3”) wide and 6cm (2”) long. Leaf undersides are pubescent, without yellow resinous dots.

Edible parts and uses:Ripe fruit can be eaten raw or cooked despite having several seeds in each fruit. They have a pleasant, yet somewhat acidic flavour. Currant leaves are commonly dried and used in teas. Young leaves are used in the Finnish summer drink known as 'Louhisaari’. Currant leaves are so tasty that when steeped in a warm liquid, they release a definitive currant-like flavor. This makes them good as a flavoring agent for jellies and ice creams. Curant leaves are also used in pickles. They contain tannins, which help keep the pickles crisp. To store Currant leaves, place them in a plastic bag in the refrigerator, where they will last for several days.

Precautions:no side effects.

Dewberry

Find:sandy savannas, woodland borders, meadows in wooded areas, and abandoned fields. Common Dewberry is found in both sandy and non-sandy habitats.

Description:trailing woody vine with curved prickles, rooting at the cane tips. Young stems are green; older stems are brownish and woody. Flowers are in small groups or sometimes single, on long stems, white with whitish centers, the stems often subtended by a small leaf.

Edible parts and uses:The leaves can be used to make a herbal tea, and the berries are edible and taste sweet. They can be eaten raw, or used to make cobbler, jam, or pie.

Arctic Warmth

12-21 - Personal. Done forever ago, and as close to true colors as we could manage... Quite like this, the colored lines add to the few colors used...~