Welcome to Mountain Edibles

I have been wandering the mountains of Utah as an amateur botanist for many years, and I am now trying to share some of what I have learned with those around me. I am a user of many edible and medicinal plants, and I believe the edible plants are the least known area of my expertise. This blog is a way to increase the popular knowledge of edible plants.

I also do plant walks to teach about edible and medicinal plants in person. If you are in the Northern Utah area, and are interested in arranging such a presentation, you can contact me using the contact form at the bottom of the page.

Thank you for coming.

Saturday, August 12, 2017

Rubus parviflorus

Rubus parviflorus
Rubus parviflorus
Thimbleberries are one our favorite treats in the mountains. My daughter is especially fond of hiking when they are in season, usually ripening in August and September. They are closely related to raspberries, and taste somewhat tart, like a velvety raspberry.

They are easy to identify. When ripe, the resemble a raspberry, but the individual juicy segments of the fruit are smaller, and there are more of them, in a thimble shape, wider and shallower than raspberries. The leaves are quite large, around 8 inches wide, and the stems are unarmed, lacking the prickles that raspberry bushes have. In the spring, there will be large white flowers, from which the berries will form. The berries are white when unripe, bright red when ripe, and dty out as the age.

The berries are quite soft and fragile, but they come off of the receptacle easily. They are best eaten right off the plant, either by gingerly pulling the berry off with your fingers (and inevitably getting red-stained hands), or biting/sucking it off directly into your mouth.

I have never tried collecting the berries for jam or any other purpose, because they are so fragile and would not travel well. One would have to pick them directly into a clean mason jar, and plan to make jam, or perhaps a real velvet cake, very soon after picking.



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