North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[dwoodard@becon.org]

My guess would be genetic variation in a wild species.

While I suspect it's not your problem, the European species looks very
similar, likes similar habitat, and is foul-tasting. One species has
club-shaped glands on the leaf stems; the other glands shaped like saucers
or shallow cups; I forget which is which, but the textbooks should tell
you. People with good eyesight can distinguish them with the naked eye,
otherwise you may need a magnifying glass. You might want to check when
the leaves are out and see if there is any difference in these leaf stem
glands.

Doug Woodard
St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada


>     I need everyone's best guess as to what might cause bitterness in
> fruit
> (and, possibly how to correct the problem):  I harvest Highbush
> Cranberries
> (Viburnum trilobum) from six places.
> 1. Swampy area between a lake and high ground.  These are understory
> bushes,
> perhaps as many as 100 of them, getting filtered sunlight and peeks of
> direct sun.  Their roots are constantly in saturated ground.  These
> berries
> have a musky taste, are otherwise pleasant and make excellent jelly.
> 2. Two bushes at the edge of a lake with surface water 2 to 3' down.
> Berries taste great and make excellent jelly.
> 3. Two bushes in front of an office building near a creek with surface
> water
> about 7' down.  Berries taste great and make good jelly.
> 4. Large bush in my neighbor's front yard.  Water table unknown.  Berries
> taste great and make good jelly.
> 5. Bitter berries from a small thicket in the woods with water table
> unknown.  Jelly is bitter.
> 6. Bitter berries from my orchard.  Bushes obtained from two nurseries,
> one
> in Minnesota and the other from North Dakota.  Planted 2' above hardpan
> clay
> where water pools after a rain plus receives some irrigation water.  Jelly
> is bitter.
>
> Jim Fruth
> Brambleberry Farm
> Pequot Lakes, MN  56472
> For jams, jellies & syrups:
> www.bberryfarm.com
> (877)265-6856 [Store]
> (218)831-7018 [My Cell]