North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Ginda Fisher <ginda@concentric.net>]

I'm only familiar with the invasive barberry in the northeast, and can't 
even tell you which barberry it is.  But I can say that the fruits are 
very small, with only a little flesh between the tough skin and the 
seed.  The flesh is waxy, yellow, and very bitter.  Birds seem to like 
it, but it is not fit for human consumption.  I've wondered if you could 
make candles from it, but never bothered to collect the thousands of 
fruit you'd need to try.

It does grow into a very nice hedge, if you trim it.  The thorns are 
very nasty, and keep out people, dogs, deer, and other large animals.  
Both the red and green ones are reasonably attractive grown as hedges, 
so long as you're not close enough to be bothered by the thorns.  
Because it is considered an invasive alien, I can't recommend it, though.

Ginda Fisher
eastern MA, zone 6

On Friday, October 11, 2002, at 04:35 PM, Mark Lee wrote:

> A month ago I sent a message asking about experience growing barberry 
> for
> its fruit.  I had one reply from India (thanks Dr. Parmar).  What I'm
> looking for is a reply from an American fruit explorer that knows 
> anything
> about barberry as an edible.  I know Berberis aristata is used in Middle
> Eastern rice dishes in dried form similar to raisins.  Maybe the work to
> eradicate barberry as a host for grain diseases has turned people off 
> to the
> possibilities for barberry in the edible landscape.  Any interest in 
> this
> fruit?
> -Mark Lee, Seattle
>
> _______________________________________________
> nafex mailing list
> nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
> Most questions can be answered here:
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/nafex
> File attachments are accepted by this list; please do not send binary 
> files, plain text ONLY!
> Message archives are here:
> https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/nafex
> To view your user options go to:
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/options/nafex/XXXX@XXXX (where 
> XXXX@XXXX is
> YOUR email address)
> NAFEX web site:   http://www.nafex.org/