This late in the season it can be hard to find any juicy berries to eat in the woods. There are some exceptions though. Common Barberry (Berberis vulgaris) still have its ruby red berries hanging on after snow and frost. They're mushier than they were in September but they still taste great. They are easy to spot as they are the only colour remaining on the bush after all the leaves fell off. It is also easier to see the spiky thorns on the bush once the leaves drop. Picking the berries takes some careful maneuvering to avoid being mauled.
At this time of year I don't harvest huge quantities of the berries but rather just eat them as a snack while being out. In September/October the berries are a great delight to harvest. I make jellies or jams with the fresh berries and dry the rest to use as tea or as flavouring when I cook rice. Adding a handful of the berries to a pot of rice while they're cooking soften the seeds inside them and make for an interesting rice dish with an occasional sour burst. Persian rice pilaf traditionally have dried barberries added to it. The berries have vitamin C, zinc and manganese in them.
leaves of common barberry in July
Common Barberry is introduced to North America, it originates from Europe, northwest Africa and Western Asia. It can grow up to 4m tall and the leaves are oval shaped with a serrated edge. The yellow flowers are borne in long panicles. The branches are grey and formidable thorns alternate up the branches in bundles of three. The bush is a favourite habitat for songbirds as it offers protection for their nests. The berries hang in bundles, they are oblong and red with two seeds inside. It spreads by rhizome and can handle dry and rocky habitats.
There is a native barberry, American Barberry (Berberis canadensis). The two are hard to tell apart. I have not seen one of these in the Okanagan. It has wrongfully been mistaken for common barberry and eradicated in many places. It is now considered vulnerable. The reason that common barberry was persecuted was that it can carry a wheat rust that alternates between the barberry bush and the wheat plant. This rust can cause wheat crop failure. The American barberry is smaller and second year branches are brown/red rather than grey. Its leaves are less serrated and it carries fewer flowers in each raceme.
Many people have another barberry as part of their landscaping: Japanese Barberry (Berberis thunbergii). This is a small bush (around 1 m tall) with lovely purple teardrop-shaped leaves. Flowers are yellow. The leaves have a non-serrated edge and on the underside of the branches hang tiny ovoid bright red berries in clusters of three or more. The bush has single thorns alternating up the branch.
Below are some red berries that could possibly be mistaken for barberry. These all remain on the bush over winter and glisten red and juicy.
This is a comparison between Common Barberry (Berberis vulgaris) to the left and Bittersweet Nightshade (Solanum dulcamara) to the right. These both grew next to one another and had berries remaining on shrub in February. To tell them apart: barberry is a shrub, bittersweet nightshade is a vine. Inside the barberry are two grey hard seeds (that look like grape seeds), inside bittersweet nightshade there are lots of small yellow soft seeds (that look like tomato seeds) Bittersweet nightshade is in the tomato family. Barberry is in the same family as Oregon grape (Berberidaceae). Barberry flowers are yellow, bittersweet nighshade flowers are purple.
The berries of bittersweet nightshade are POISONOUS. Do not
ingest. They can cause, headache, dizziness, trouble speaking, low body
temperature, bleeding in stomach or intestines, trouble breathing, poor
blood circulation, convulsions and possibly even death. They look very
appetizing so be aware that small children might be tempted by them.
bittersweet nightshade flowers
Another look-alike is Highbush Cranberry (Viburnum spp.) There are a few species. Some are edible, some are not recommended. We have European Highbush Cranberry/ Guelder Rose (Viburnum opulus) growing on the farm. Its berries are round and very juicy. It has one large, flattened, hard seed inside. The berry is technically edible in small quantities. It makes me nauseated if I eat more than 5 raw berries in one sitting. In large quantities the berries can cause vomiting and diarrhea. I sometimes make a jelly from them and use it with meat. Cooked it isn't nauseating, and I only consume a teaspoon max at a time.
All pictures below are of European Highbush Cranberry/Guelder Rose (Viburnum opulus)
Leaves are three-lobed and the flowers are interesting in that they produce showy sterile flowers on the outside and smaller fertile flowers in the centre. The bush can reach 5 m and attracts birds and pollinators.
I hope that this article was helpful in recognising some of the red berries you might encounter now in February. Stay safe in the woods and make sure you properly identify any plant before consuming. Take great care to harvest sustainably.
