Vaccinium caespitosum

Vaccinium caespitosum

I have known there is a dwarf species of bilberry or huckleberry that grew in my region, but I never thought I would find enough of it to make it worth eating or seeking out. That has now changed. 

I was down on hands and knees picking Alpine Wintergreen (Gaultheria humifusa), a berry everyone likes a lot, when I noticed some bilberry shaped berries growing at the edges of my wintergreen patch. They were on tiny plants only 2-3 inches tall, so I realized I had found the dwarf species of bilberry, Vaccinium caespitosum, commonly known as Dwarf Bilberry. And there were several ripe berries on each little plant, so it probably produces more fruit than normal bilberries, in terms of fruit per area, although I doubt that the plant is nearly as common as the normal bilberry. It certainly is not as noticeable, because it is so small, and the berries are mostly hidden under the leaves. 

Dwarf Bilberries are worth seeking out, because the berries have a very excellent flavor. They are somewhat like the typical bilberry or huckleberry, but they also have a fresh fruity taste which is distinctly noticeable. Definitely a winner in terms of flavor.

Look for Dwarf Bilberries if you are at high elevations or north in the Rockies. They can be found growing in meadows which are not too wet or too dry, along with other plants of similar stature. If the other plants are larger, they easily get over-shaded and out-competed. It doesn't like soil as thin as alpine wintergreen thrives in, but can grow in only slightly better soil, as shown when I found it growing next to alpine wintergreen.

Saxifraga odontoloma

Saxifrage flower

Brook saxifrage is one of the most common plants found on the banks of swiftly flowing mountain brooks, and seems to need that specific environment. You might occasionally find it in boggy areas if there is a stream nearby, but never in dry areas. It is easily recognizable from the leaves which have large even teeth, like fancy edges cut into paper. The flowering stems are leafless, and have many branches with small white flowers which are very pretty to look at. The flowers have five petals, ten stamens with wide (petaloid) filaments, and a 2-parted style. The latin name, Saxifraga odontoloma, has been changed due to genetic research. Newer references will call it Micranthes odontoloma instead.

Saxifrage leaves

The leaves are edible, but even though they don't taste bad, they don't taste good either. They seem mostly tasteless to me. And the texture is rather tough, especially in older, larger leaves. They are thicker than an average leaf, so there may be more food bulk in them at least. After cooking, even for 15 minutes, they taste nearly the same as they do raw, and they are very nearly still as tough as they are raw.

So, there isn't much here to excite me to eat these often. At best, I think they could be added to a recipe to give it more food bulk, and make it more filling.