Pick your poison: Prairie berries that should and shouldn't be eaten (2024)

Red berry, black berry, orange berry, white;
Bitter berry, pitty berry, sour berry – quite!
Crunch them, pound them, squeeze them and bite
All the berries, except the white.

Is the rhyme correct in implying that white berries are not good to eat?

Let’s look at the three common plants in central Saskatchewan with white berries: baneberry, snowberry and red osier dogwood.

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Baneberry (Actaea rubra) has clusters of shiny, oval, white berries with a dot in the middle, giving them the name “doll’s eyes.” These are poisonous. Baneberry is a plant of rich woods, such as along the river bank near Saskatoon, and the berries grow about knee high.

Snowberry includes both buckbrush and common snowberry (Symphoricarpos occidentalis and S. albus). It has round, soft, white berries, although on buckbrush they are greenish white, then turn blue and brown as they ripen. They are reputed to have poisoned children in the past. Buckbrush grows in patches on the open prairie while common snowberry can be found in shady spots along thicket edges and in woods.

Red osier dogwood (Cornus sericea) is a wild shrub planted as an ornamental for its red bark that produces clusters of white berries by mid-summer. Like baneberries, these have a small dot on the end. They are not poisonous despite the local name “poisonberry” but they are said to be extremely bitter. Red osier dogwood bushes grow several metres high, and the berries are clustered at the branch tips, often at eye level.

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What about the other berries mentioned in the rhyme? You might know these. All are visible on Saskatchewan bushes and all are edible.

The red berry — bitter and crunchy — is thorny buffaloberry (Shepherdia argentea). These grow along the top of the river bank, on slopes and on the open prairie. Buffaloberries can be eaten safely in small quantities and make a wonderful jelly (which takes care of their small, stony seeds).

The black, pitty berry that is pounded is common chokecherry (Prunus virginiana). Chokecherries make good syrup, jelly and wine — all preparations which remove the large, round pit. The rhyme calls them the berry that is pounded because local Cree people have traditionally used them after pounding (or grinding) them, pit and all. The season for chokecherries is over, although a few dry fruits remain on the bushes at the moment.

The orange berry — quite sour and squishy — is of course the high-bush cranberry (Viburnum opulus var. americanum). These cranberries are abundant this time of year. Look up in the rich riverbank forests to see these berries hanging in opulent clusters just above head height. Soft and squishy with a large flat pit, they too excel as a jelly berry.

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What about other red and black berries in our area? Are they safe or suspect? Most of our red berries are edible, but some baneberry plants have red berries instead of white doll’s eyes, and these red berries are poisonous. The black berries of European buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) resemble those of chokecherry, but they are definitely not good to eat, being a cathartic. Hawthorn’s red fruits, looking like miniature apples, are reputed to be dangerous for people with a heart condition.

As the shrubs drop their leaves, you can see the abundant fruits of summer still attached to bushes where many remain throughout the winter. Keep in mind that there is no simple rule to tell which to eat. There is no substitute for learning which berry is which before you pick them.

Anna Leighton is a member of the Saskatoon Nature Society.

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