The Plant World 



A MONTHLY JOURNAL OF POPULAR BOTANY. 



Vol. hi. FEBRUARY, 1900. No. 2, 



NOTES ON THE EDIBLE BERRIES OF ALASKA. 

 l\y Walter H. Evans. 



E\'ERY one who has been fortunate enough to visit Alaska in the 

 proper season has noticed the wonderful abundance and variety 

 of berries. So striking a feature are they that the region has 

 been repeatedly designated a land of berries. It was the privilege of 

 the writer to visit that country in the summers of 1S97 and 1898 and 

 while there at least two dozen different species and varieties of edible 

 berries were collected. Many of the berries enter (piitely largely into 

 the summer dietary of native and white population and to a lesser 

 extent are preserved in various ways for winter use. Among the 

 white population the usual methods are followed and canned fruit, 

 jellies, jams and cordials are prepared for future consumption. With 

 the natives a diti'erent process is followed and the universal method of 

 preservation, so far as the writer is informed, is by mixing the berries 

 with seal or other oil. The result is a mixture very repulsive to the 

 uninitiated but it is highly prized by the natives. A jar or can of such 

 character is considered a present of no mean value. However for the 

 most part the natives use the berries in the fresh state and most gener- 

 ally uncooked. Berry parties are of common occurrence, and in the 

 autumn following a good berry season special dances are celebrated. 



Among the most widely distributed berries may be mentioned the 

 salmon berries, baked apple berries, small and high bush cranberries, 

 red and black currants, huckleberries, ])luel)erries, elderberries, bunch- 

 l)erries, and crowberries. Of less common distribution, l)ut still 

 abundant in some regions arc wild strawberries, red raspberries, dew- 

 berries, salalberrics, thiml)le berries, bog cranberries, and bcarberries. 

 A number of others are of local and limited use, hut all the above are 

 important in their season. 



