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nafex - [NAFEX] Mystery berry - can you help me identify this?

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  • From: list@ginda.us
  • To: NAFEX <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [NAFEX] Mystery berry - can you help me identify this?
  • Date: Sun, 20 Jul 2003 08:07:43 -0400

While looking for wild blueberries that weren't quite ripe in the lakes region of New Hampshire last week, my husband and I came upon a a small tree bearing fruits that looked a lot like blueberries. It was near peak, with lots of ripe berries and lots of ripening berries. The tree was about 15' tall, with a central trunk about 2-4" thick (not very round). It was growing on the edge of an island, leaning out over the lake. The bark was smooth.

The leaves were "leaf shaped" simple leaves, a little bigger than the wild blueberries, but within the range of sizes I've seen for domestic highbush blueberries. They were softer in texture than a blueberry leaf - less leathery - and has tiny sharp serrations pointing towards the tip. Each little point was a couple of millimeters long (maybe less) and they were fairly uniform.

The berries were large for wild blueberries, although smaller than domestic blueberries. They grew in loose clusters of about 20 or more, and each berry has a prominent blossom scar, with long "tags" of skin around it. We each ate a couple fresh, and they tasted similar to blueberries, but not as good. A couple days later, when neither of us got sick, we ate a lot more. They were pleasant, but seedy and a bit bland. They were not terribly popular around the table, but that may have been partly because I couldn't say for sure what they were.

My first guess is some kind of service berry, although it didn't exactly match any of the ameliamchor in the only tree book I could find. I have a good photo of a twig with fruit that I can e-mail to anyone who wants to take a stab at identifying it, but I don't know how to post to NAFEX space, and I think we are requested not to send attachments to this list.

Thanks for any ideas,
Ginda





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