Alaska Wild Berries SCRUMPTIOUSLY EXTRAORDINARY It’s a wild berry lover’s dream. Whether gathering them for fun or harvesting for subsistence, berry Late-Aug picking can easily become an annual tradition that delights your palate and puts a twist on your ’Pick’n Late-Sept culinary adventures. From mid- to late-summer Time through the frst frosts, berries decorate the Alaska landscape from the alpine slopes to the forest foors. Berry Berry Good Enjoy this overview of berry picking in Alaska. While Huckleberry (Red) it is not exhaustive — there are over 50 types of Vaccinium parvifolium edible berries in Alaska — it should start you on the Found in somewhat moist habitats along the southcentral and southeast coasts of right foot and keep you from stumbling into trouble. Alaska.

Bearberry Lingonberry (lowbush cranberries) Arctostaphylos sp. Vaccinium vitis-idaea Found in subalpine and boreal woodlands and Found in rocky or peaty forest soils, alpine forests and in tundra and alpine shrublands. muskegs and tundra.

Blueberry Nagoonberry Vaccinium alaskaense, V. ovalifolium, and Rubus arcticus V. uliginosum Found in open, dry, and moist habitats Found in tundra, open woods, above including tundra, bogs, meadows, and timberline and in low-lying bogs. stream and lake shores.

Bunchberry Raspberry Cornus canadensis Rubus idaeus Found in spruce and birch forests. Found in previously-disturbed areas, thickets and forest edges. Cloudberry Rubus chamaemorus Salmonberry Found in damp felds, marshes, wet meadows, Rubus spectabilis and tundra. Found in moist coastal forests, stream sides, and shorelines, and disturbed areas such Cranberry (highbush) as roadsides and woodland edges in Viburnum edule southeast and southcentral Alaska. Found in open woods and meadows. Serviceberry Crowberry Amelanchier sp. Empetrum nigrum Found in thickets or borders of woods in Found in alpine muskegs and tundra. southeast, southcentral, and interior Alaska.

Currants (red, black, white) Strawberry Ribes sp. Fragaria sp. Found in forested areas. Found in moist, sandy soil growing in meadows, rock crevices, and coasts. Elderberry (Red) Scattered throughout the southeast , Sambucus racemosa interior, Gulf of Alaska and Aleutians. Found along the coast in forested areas. Watermelon Berry Gooseberry Streptopus amplexifolius Ribes oxyacanthoides Found near shaded stream banks and in Found in alpine thickets, rocky woods, and as moist thickets on mountain slopes in ornamental cultivars. subarctic Alaska. Berry Berry Tasty CURRANTS STRAWBERRY

ELDERBERRY RASPBERRY

SALMONBERRY BLUEBERRY

S W CLOUDBERRY T CRANBERRY E R Alaska E

A T

T LINGONBERRY Berry NAGOONBERRY Tastes RED HUCKLEBERRY SERVICEBERRY BLAND GOOSEBERRY

BUNCHBERRY WATERMELON CROWBERRY BEARBERRY BERRY Berry Berry Healthy

Naturally low in fat, Cholesterol free. Source of many essential nutrients, sodium, and calories. including dietary fber, vitamin C and folic acid. Antioxidants Scores for Alaska vs. Rest of U.S. Berries Lingonberry 206 High bush Cranberry 174 Blue Huckleberry 111 Pomegranate (Lower 48) 106 Alaska’s Crowberry 94 lingonberry Dwarf blueberry 88 Red bearberry 79 ranked the Bog blueberry 77 highest! Alaska Blueberry 76 Wild blueberry (Lower 48) 61 Northern black currant 56 Alaska’s berries are better! Nagoonberry 51 Researchers discovered extraordinarily high levels of Kinnikinnik 48 antioxidants in Alaska’s blueberries, cranberries, Red Raspberry 47 raspberries, lingonberries, and a basket of other wild Bog cranberry 46 fruits Alaskans commonly gather as late summer cools. Cloudberry 29 Cultivated blueberry (Lower 48) 24 Many of Alaska’s berries have higher oxygen radical Red Currant 23 absorption capacity (ORAC) than commercial fruits Watermelon berry 19 studied. Anything over 40 is considered very high. Berry Berry Bad Avoid white opaque berries in Alaska The most infamous poisonous – they’re all poisonous. Teach children berry in Alaska is the baneberry to stay away from all berries unless (Actaea rubra). Baneberries look with an adult. a lot like highbush cranberries so look closely. The berries are often red, but can be white, with a black Check your berries! dot on the end. The seeds also differ with banberry’s Berries sometimes contain the having a crescent-shape, while highbush cranberry seeds immature or resting life stage of are a flattened oval shape. insects. Often, affected berries are wrinkled or deformed. Bears love berries too! How to evict bugs from your berry batch: Always be aware that bears love berries, and stay alert for them. 1. Pick through and discard these infested berries. Make a lot of noise to alert bears of your presence, and know how 2. Or make a brine solution of ½ tsp salt to 1 to handle an encounter. gallon lukewarm water. Add berries and let stand for one hour. The worms will escape from Know Bear Aware tips and stay safe: the berries into the water. Then drain and rinse berries. Carry bear spray and know how to use it. Stay in groups of 3 or more.

Avoid Carcasses.

Manage your food scent.

References: https://www.doi.gov https://www.fs.fed.us/ https://plants.sc.egov.usda.gov/home Learn more at www.blm.gov/alaska http://www.adfg.alaska.gov https://uaf.edu/ces/foodhealth/berries/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3751288/