LITTLE REGARDED WILD FRUITS 



fact that it was a customary garnish to the monot- 

 onous buffalo steaks and tongue of those early days. 

 The plant is a somewhat spiny shrub or small tree 

 with silvery, scurfy leaves, and forms at times ex- 

 tensive and all but impenetrable thickets- The 

 species is dioecious, and only the pistillate plant 

 bears fruit; but that does it abundantly — tight 

 clusters of small, scarlet berries, so sour as to find 

 few takers until the frosts of October temper their 

 acerbity. Then they are pleasant enough whether 

 raw or cooked, though still with a touch of acid 

 astringency that makes for sprightliness. Jelly 

 made from them ranks especially high, and to this 

 end they are gathered by white dwellers in the re- 

 gions where they grow. In fact, the plant is not in- 

 frequently found transferred to gardens. The ber- 

 ries used to be one of the Indians' dietary staples, 

 lending a lively, fruity flavor to the unending stews 

 and mushes of the red men. There is a related 

 plant, the Silverberry {Elaeagnus argentea, Pursh), 

 native to much the same region and often cultivated 

 in gardens for the sake of the fragrant, silvery, 

 funnel-form flowers and attractive foliage. Its 

 white, scurfy berries, while in a sense edible, are too 

 dry and mealy for most people, and are left to the 

 prairie chickens. 



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