WILD FRUITS OP CALIFORNIA 4^ 



bitter and astringent. The bush form bearing bright red fruit 

 intensely bitter, is the variety Californica. 



California Grape (Vitis Californica). Along our streams the 

 native grape-vine attains large size and fruits freely, the fruit 

 resembling the "frost grape" of the East. The vine frequently 

 covers and sometimes kills large trees with the density of its 

 foliage. Some variation is reported in the species, but it is possible 

 that some of the better kinds are seedlings from some imported 

 species, bird planted. The species has attained something of a 

 reputation as a phyloxera-resisting root for grafting, but it has 

 proved exacting in its choice of soils and situations, and otherwise 

 not desirable, and some Eastern species are now relied upon for 

 this service. 



Elderberry (Sambucus glauca). The elderberry makes a fine 

 tree in California, sometimes twenty feet or more in height, and 

 with a trunk a foot and a half in diameter. The fruit is borne in 

 large quantities and is used to some extent for preserves and pastry. 



Raspberries (Rubus sp.). In the mountains of the eastern part 

 of the State is a scarlet hemispherical berry of pleasant flavor, 

 which is called "thimbleberry" (Rubus parviftorus.) It seems to 

 have an advantage over a variety (velufinus) of the same species 

 which is found near the coast and has a dry, insipid fruit. Another 

 raspberry, which is found in all hilly and mountainous regions, 

 both on the coast and in the interior is Rubus leucodermis. It 

 resembles the black-cap raspberry of the Atlantic slope, except that 

 it has yellowish-red fruit. This fruit is quite largely gathered for 

 domestic uses, and some efforts have been made to cultivate the 

 plants. 



Salmon Berry (Rubus spectabilis). The beauty, size, and 

 delicious flavor of this fruit are highly commended by all who have 

 enjoyed it in the upper coast counties of California and farther 

 northward. The plant makes a strong bush, five to ten feet high, 

 and it delights in woods and shady banks of streams. The praise 

 of all who know the fruit has led to frequent attempts to introduce 

 the plant to warmer and drier parts of the State, but such efforts 

 have thus far uniformly failed. 



Wild Blackberry (Rubus vitifolius). This fruit should perhaps 

 be called a "dewberry," as it has a trailing, or, at most, but partially 

 raised stems, which extend from five to twenty feet. The plant 

 occurs abundantly on banks of streams and other sufficiently moist 

 locations, both in the coast and interior regions of the State. 

 Around the margin of Humboldt Bay, on land cleared by fire or 

 axe, blackberries spring up abundantly on the denuded land. Tons 

 of the fruit are said to remain after the local housewives have done 

 their utmost in preserving and jelly-making. In the lowland region 



