Chapter 7 WILD FOOD ON THE TRAIL

Edible Fruits, Nuts, Roots, and Plants

While wild foods gathered on the trail give a delightful variety to camp fare, be advised and do not gather, still less eat, them unless you are absolutely sure you know what they are and that they are not poisonous. You must be able to identify a thing with certainty before tasting in order to enjoy it in safety. It is well worth while to make a study of the wild-growing foods, but in the meantime this chapter will help you to know some of them. The italicized names are of the things I know to be edible from personal experience. You are probably well acquainted with the common wild fruits such as the raspberry, strawberry, blackberry, blueberry, and huckleberry, but there are varieties of these and all will bear description.

Red Raspberry

The wild berry often has a more delicious flavor and perfume than the cultivated one of the same species. Nothing can approach the wonderful and delicate flavor of the little wild strawberry, unless it is the wild red raspberry; and the fully ripe wild blackberry holds a spicy sweetness that makes the garden blackberry taste tame and flat in comparison.

The wild red raspberry is found in open fields and growing along fences and the sides of the road. The flowers are white and grow in loose clusters, while the berry, when fully ripe, is a deep, translucent red. The bush is shrubby, is generally about waist-high, and the stems bear small, hooked prickles. The leaves are what is called compound, being composed of three or five leaflets, usually three, which branch out from the main stem like the leaves of the rose-bush. The edges of the leaves are irregularly toothed.

The berry is cup-shaped and fits over a core which is called the receptacle, and from which it loosens when ripe to drop easily into your hand, leaving the receptacle and calyx on the stem. The sweet, far-carrying perfume of the gathered wild red raspberry will always identify it. The season for fruit is July and August.

Black Raspberry

The growth and leaves of the wild black raspberry are like those of the red raspberry, and it is found in the same localities. The fruit, like the other, is cup or thimble shaped and grows on a receptacle from which it loosens when fully ripe. Blackcaps, these berries are often called. They ripen in July. The berry is sometimes a little dry, but the flavor is sweet and fine.

Purple-Flowering Raspberry

The purple-flowering raspberry is acid and insipid; it can hardly be called edible, though it is not poisonous. You will find it clambering among the rocks on the mountainside and in rocky soil. The leaves are large and resemble grape leaves, while the flower is large, purplish-red in color, and grows in loose clusters.

Mountain Raspberry, Cloudberry

The usual home of the mountain raspberry, or cloudberry, is on the mountain-tops among the clouds. You will find it in the White Mountains and on the coast of Maine, and it has recently been discovered at Montauk Point, L. I. The fruit has a pleasant flavor of a honey-like sweetness. The receptacle of the berry is broad and flat, the color is yellow touched with red where exposed to the sun. It does not grow in clusters like the other raspberries, but is solitary. The leaves are roundish with from five to nine lobes, something like the leaves of the geranium. The plant grows low, is without prickles, and the solitary flowers are white. In the far north, where it is found in great profusion, the cloudberry is made into delicious jam.

Wild Strawberry

When crossing sandy knolls or open, uncultivated fields and pastures, the alluring perfume of the wild strawberry will sometimes lead you to the patch which shows the bright-red little berry on its low-growing plant. It is common everywhere, though it bears the name of wild Virginia strawberry. In Latin it is most appropriately called Fragaria, meaning fragrant. The leaves are compound with three coarsely toothed, hairy leaflets. The small white flowers grow in sparse clusters on rather long, hairy stems. They have many deep yellow stamens which are surrounded by the fine white petals. In fruiting time the leaves are often bright-red.

Low Running Blackberry

Among the mountains and hills, down in the valleys, and on the plains; straggling along roadsides, clinging to fence rails, and sprawling over rocks, you will find the wild blackberry. There are several varieties, and blackberries of some kind are common throughout the United States.

The low running blackberry belongs to the dewberry type and bears the largest and juiciest berries. It is a trailing vine with compound leaves of from four to seven leaflets which are double-toothed. The berries are black and glossy and grow in small clusters. They are sweet and pulpy when thoroughly ripe and the best ones are those which ripen slowly under the shelter of the leaves.

Blackberries grow on a receptacle or core, but unlike the raspberry, they do not separate from it. When ripe they drop easily from the calyx carrying the receptacle with them. The flowers are small and white, and grow in clusters.

Running Swamp Blackberry

Perhaps you have seen the blackberry with fruit so small it seems only partially developed and, like myself, have hesitated to taste it, not being sure that it was a true blackberry and edible. It takes a good many of these little berries to make a mouthful, but they are harmless. They are called the running swamp blackberry. They ripen in August and grow in sandy places as well as in the swamps. There are three leaflets, seldom more, to the stem, which are blunt at the tip, smooth, shining, and coarsely toothed. The flowers are small and white, and the stems prickly.

High-Bush Blackberry

Throughout the northern states as far west as Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri and down to North Carolina, you may find the high-bush blackberry. Its stems are sometimes ten feet high; they are furrowed and thorny and the bush grows along country roads, by fences, and in the woods. The berries are sweet, but quite seedy. They grow in long, loose clusters and ripen in July.

Mountain Blackberry

There is another variety called the mountain blackberry. It has a spicy flavor, but the fruit is small and dry. The leaves are more elongated toward the tip than those of the others and they are finely toothed. The branches are reddish in color.

Thornless Blackberry

The sweetest of all varieties is said to be the thornless blackberry. It ripens later than the others and has no thorns. The leaves are long and narrow.

Eastern Wild Gooseberry

Among the mountains from Massachusetts to North Carolina, the eastern wild gooseberry grows. It is said that its flavor is delicious. The fruit is purplish in color and is free from all prickles. It grows on slender stems and, like the cultivated gooseberry, is tipped with the dry calyx. The leaves are small, rather round, and have three or five lobes. The flowers are greenish and insignificant. The plant is three or four feet high, with spreading branches and smooth stems.

Good food on the trail.

Dwarf Blueberry

Perhaps the most satisfactory of all berries when one is really hungry is the blueberry, of which there are several varieties. The dwarf blueberry is probably the most common. It is the earliest of the blueberries to ripen and grows in the thin, sandy, and rocky soil which is spurned by most other plants. You will find it upon barren hillsides, in rocky fields, and in dry pine woods. The berries are round, blue, about the size of peas, and are covered with bloom like the grape. They grow in thick clusters at the end of the branch and are tipped with fine calyx teeth. The seeds are so small as to be almost unnoticed and the soft ripe berry will bruise easily.

The flavor of all blueberries has a nutty quality which seems to give the berry more substance as a food. The leaf is rather narrow and pointed at each end; the under side is a lighter green than the upper and both are glossy. In the fall the leaves turn red and drop easily. The bush is low and the branches usually covered with small, white dots.

Low Blueberry

Another variety is called the low blueberry. It is very much like the dwarf blueberry, but the bush grows sometimes as high as four feet. It is stiff and upstanding and prefers the edge of the woods and sheltered roadsides to the dry open fields. The berries are blue with a grape-like bloom and, like the first variety, grow in thick clusters at the end of the branch. You can grab a good handful in passing, so many are there in a bunch.

High-Bush Blueberry

On the high-bush blueberry the color of the berries varies. Some bushes bear a black, shiny berry, others a smooth, blue, and still others blue with a bloom. The sizes differ also. The berries grow in clusters, at times on branches almost bare of leaves; some are sweet, others sour. The leaves are a pointed oval with the under side lighter in color than the upper; in some cases the under side is hairy. The flowers are pinkish and shaped somewhat like a cylinder. The bush grows occasionally to the height of ten feet, and you will generally find it in marshy places. I know that it grows by the edge of Teedyuskung Lake in Pike County, Pa., where our summer camp is located, but it is found also in pasturelands.

Dangleberry

Another variety is called the dangleberry. The berries grow on stems in loose clusters; they are rather large, of a dark-blue color with a bloom; they ripen late and are not very plentiful. The pale-green leaves are large, white, and resinous underneath, and are oval in shape. The flowers are greenish-pink and hang like bells on slender stems.

Wintergreen. Checkerberry

Almost every one knows the little cherry-red wintergreen berry or checkerberry, and almost every one likes its sweet aromatic flavor but few would care to make a meal of it. The fruit is too dry for hearty eating and the flavor too decided. The evergreen leaves are leathery in texture and their flavor is stronger than that of the berry; they are whitish underneath and dark, glossy green above. They are oval in shape and have a few small teeth or none at all. The flowers are white, waxy, and cup-shaped; they hang like bells from their short stems. The plant grows close to the ground, generally in the woods and moist places. It is found as far north as Maine and west to Michigan.

Do not mistake the bunchberry for the wintergreen. It, too, grows low on the ground, but the bunchberries are in close clusters at the top of the small plant where the leaves radiate. The berries are bright scarlet, round and smooth, and are not edible. Flower and leaf resemble those of the dogwood-tree, to which family the bunchberry belongs.

Partridgeberry

Another ground berry is the partridgeberry. This may be eaten but is dry and rather tasteless. It is a red berry and grows on a slender, trailing vine. Its leaves are small and heart-shaped; some are veined with white. They are evergreen. The flowers grow in pairs and are like four-pointed stars at the ends of slender tubes. Inside they are creamy white, outside a delicate pink. The partridgeberry likes pine forests and dry woods.

June-Berry. Shadbush

There are berries on trees as well as on bushes and vines, at least they are called berries though not always resembling them.

The June-berry is a tree from ten to thirty feet in height, while its close relative, the shadbush, is a low tree and sometimes a shrub. The fruit resembles the seed-vessels of the rose; it grows in clusters and is graded in color from red to violet; it has a slight bloom and the calyx shows at the summit. It ripens in June and is said to be sweet and delicious in flavor. The oblong leaves are sharply toothed, rounded at the base and pointed at the tip. The young leaves are hairy. The flowers are white and grow in clusters.

The shadbush grows in wet places and its fruit is smaller and on shorter stems. It is also said to be more juicy. The leaves are rather woolly.

Fruits found principally in the south and the middle west.

Red Mulberry

Although the finest mulberry-trees are said to be found along the Mississippi and the lower Ohio Rivers, I have seen large, thrifty trees in Connecticut and on Long Island. They grow from Massachusetts to Florida and west to Nebraska. Birds are very fond of the mulberry. The first rose-breasted grosbeaks I ever saw were in a great mulberry-tree on a farm in the northern part of Connecticut. The berry is shaped much like a blackberry; it is juicy and sweet, but lacks flavor. It grows on a short stem and is about an inch in length. In July when the berry ripens it is a dark purple.

There is a decided variety in the shape of the leaves on one tree; some have seven lobes, some none at all. The edges of most are scalloped, though I have seen leaves with smooth edges.

The white mulberry is seldom found growing wild. The fruit is like the red mulberry but perfectly white.

Sweet Viburnum. Nanny-Berry. Sheepberry

The fruit of the sweet viburnum, nanny-berry or sheepberry, is said to be edible. It grows on a small tree, of the honeysuckle family, in the woods and by the streams from Canada to Georgia and west as far as Missouri. The tree has a rusty, scaly bark and broad, oval leaves, pointed at the tip and finely toothed. The flower clusters are large and, though white, they appear yellowish from the many yellow anthers at the centre. When entirely ripe the fruit is a dark blue or black and is covered with a bloom; before ripening it is crimson. The berry grows in clusters on slender red stems. It is elongated and rather large. At its summit is the calyx and stigma. The seed inside the berry is a stone which is flattened, blunt-pointed, and grooved. The fruit ripens in September and October.

Large-Fruited Thorn

The thorns, large-fruited and scarlet, are edible. As a child I knew the fruit as haws and was very fond of it. The large-fruited thorn is a low tree with branches spreading out horizontally. You will often find it in thickets. The bark is rough and the thorns on the branches are long, sharp, and of a light-brown color. In flavor the fruit is sweet and apple-like; the flesh is dry and mealy; it grows on hairy stems and the seeds are hard, rounded, and grooved. The summit is tipped with the calyx and it ripens in September. The leaves are thick, narrowed at the base, and rounded at the ends, with veins underneath that are prominent and often hairy.

Black Haw. Stag-Bush

The fruit of the black haw, or stag-bush, is not edible until after frost has touched it. It is oval, dark blue with bloom, and about half an inch long. It grows in stiff clusters on short, branching stems. The shrub, which is sometimes a small tree, is bushy and crooked, with stout and spreading branches. It is found from Connecticut to Georgia and as far west as the Indian Territory. It grows among the underbrush in forests. The bark is scaly and of a reddish-brown color, the leaves are dark green and smooth on the upper side, paler and sometimes covered with matted hair on the under side, where the veins show prominently; they are two or three inches long and generally oval in shape with no teeth. The flowers are cream-white and grow in flat-topped clusters.

Wild Plums. Canada Plum

There is a wild plum that is found in our New England States and in Canada known as the Canada plum. The plant grows along fences, in thickets, and by the side of streams. The plum is from one inch to one and a half inches long and is red or orange in color. It has a tough skin and a flat stone. The flavor is considered pleasant but the fruit is generally used for preserving. The leaves have long, sharp points at the ends and are rather heart-shaped at the base. The flowers, white in bud, change to pink when opened. They grow in thin clusters.

Beach Plum

Usually on sandy and stony beaches, though at times farther inland, you may find the beach plum. It is a low shrub and grows in clumps. The fruit is apt to be abundant and is sweet when quite ripe. This plum, also, is used for preserving. The color of the fruit is from red to red-purple, it has a bloom over it and grows on a slender stem. The thin stone is rounded on one edge, sharp on the other, and generally has pointed ends. The fruit ripens in August and September. The leaf is oval, has a sharp-pointed tip, is rounded at the base, and has fine, forward-pointed teeth. There are many white flowers which grow in clusters along the branches.

Wild Red Cherry

The wild red cherry is sour but edible; it is best used as preserves. The tree is usually small yet sometimes reaches the height of thirty feet. It is oftenest found in the woods of the north, but also grows among the mountains as far south as Tennessee. The bark is a reddish-brown and has rusty dots over it. The leaves are oblong, pointed at the tips and rather blunt at the base. They are bright green and glossy. The white flower is much like the cultivated cherry blossom but smaller; it grows in clusters. The cherries are light red and about the size of a pea.

Fruits found principally in the north and the middle west.

Sand-Cherry

Growing in the sand along our eastern coast as far south as New Jersey and sometimes on the shores of the Great Lakes, the sand-cherry is found. It is a low, trailing bush, but in some cases sends up erect branches as high as four feet. The fruit is dark red-black when quite ripe-and about half an inch long. It grows in small clusters or solitary, and is said to be sweet and edible. The leaves, dark green on the upper side, are lighter underneath; they are rather narrow, broadest toward the end and tapering at the base. The edge is toothed almost to the base. The flowers are white and thinly clustered.

Persimmon

In the Southern, Western, and Middle States, some say as far north as New York, grows the persimmon. Deliciously sweet and spicy when frost has ripened it, very astringent until ripe. It is plentiful in Kentucky and one of my earliest memories is of going to market with my mother in the fall to buy persimmons. There I learned to avoid the fair, perfect fruit, though to all appearances it was quite ripe, and to choose that which looked bruised and broken.

The persimmon is about the size of a plum, but is flattened at the poles. It grows close to the branch and its calyx is large. The color is yellow generally flushed with red. Some writers describe it as juicy, but I would not call it that; the flesh is more like custard or soft jelly.

The tree usually varies in height from thirty to fifty feet, but in some places is said to reach one hundred or more feet. The trunk is short and the branches spreading. In the south it often forms a thicket in uncultivated fields and along roadsides. The bark is dark brown or dark gray, the surface is scaly and divided into plates. The leaves are usually a narrow oval with smooth edges; when matured they are dark green and glossy on the upper side, underneath pale and often downy. The flower is a creamy-white or greenish-yellow.

Papaw

The papaw is another fruit I knew well as a child. It is sometimes called custard-apple because the flesh resembles soft custard. As I write I can almost taste the, to me, sickish sweetness of the fruit and feel the large, smooth, flat seeds in my mouth. In shape the papaw somewhat resembles the banana, the texture of the skin is the same, but the surface of the papaw is smoothly rounded and it is shorter and thicker than the banana, being usually from three to five inches long. It ripens in September and October. The tree is small, often a shrub, and it grows wild no farther north than western New York.

There are some cultivated papaw-trees on Long Island, but I do not think they bear fruit. Certainly none that I have seen have ever fruited. You will find the tree as far south as Florida and Texas, through the Middle States and west to Michigan and Kansas. It flourishes in the bottom lands of the Mississippi Valley and seeks the shade of the forests. The bark is dark brown with gray blotches; the leaves are large, being from two to twelve inches long and four inches wide. They are oval, pointed at the tip and narrowed at the base. When matured they are smooth, dark green on the upper side and paler beneath. At first the flower is as green as the leaves, but finally turns a deep red-purple. It grows close to the branch and is solitary.

May-Apple

One of the most delicious wild fruits we have is the May-apple or mandrake. It is finely flavored, sweet and juicy, but being a laxative one must eat of it sparingly. It is most common in the Middle States and reaches perfection in Ohio.

The plant is from twelve to eighteen inches high, and the large umbrella-like leaves are lifted on smooth, straight stems. The fruit usually grows from the fork of two leaves. It is yellow, lemon-shaped, and about the size of a plum. The flesh is like that of the plum and there are numerous seeds in fleshy seed coverings. It ripens in July and is quite soft when fully ripe. I have sometimes gathered the firm, yellow May-apples, put them away in a cool, dark, dry place to ripen, and in taking them out have found them in prime condition. They will ripen in this way without spoiling if not allowed to touch one another.

The leaves frequently measure a foot in diameter; they have from five to nine lobes, which are notched and pointed at the tips; the upper side is darker than the lower. While the fruit of the May-apple is edible, the leaves and root are poisonous, not to the touch but to the taste. The flower is a clear white with from eight to twelve rounding petals and it generally measures about one and a half inches across. The petals expand in the morning, become erect in the afternoon, and close at night. We are told that the May-apple is a roadside plant, but I have found it only in the woods.

Wild Grapes

There are several varieties of wild grapes, all, I think, edible but not all pleasant to the taste. The fox-grape is sweet, but has a musky flavor and odor, a thick skin, and a tough pulp. The fruit ripens in September but few care to eat it. The vine grows luxuriantly and is very common. The summer grape is another tough-skinned grape. It is not musky but is generally astringent. The vine resembles the fox-grape in growth, being strong and vigorous. The fruit of the blue grape is sour and hangs in long, heavy clusters. It is usually found along water-ways.

Fruits common to most of the States.

Frost-Grape or Chicken-Grape

If you try to eat the frost-grapes before frost you will find them decidedly sour, but after a good frost they are really fine. They have a snappy, spicy flavor all their own, and one eats them, like currants, skin and all. They are small, round, and black with a slight bloom. The clusters are well-filled and hang loosely. The vine grows luxuriantly, branching from a large trunk, and is found in wet places and on the banks of streams, though it does well in the open and in drier soil. It flourishes in New England and down to Illinois and westward to Nebraska. The leaves usually suggest three lobes but are mostly undivided. They are coarsely toothed and the under side bears occasional hairs along the veins.

Wild Nuts. Black Walnuts

Of all the wild-growing foods, nuts are, perhaps, the most nutritious. The black walnut, not plentiful in the Atlantic States but abundant in the Middle States and in the Mississippi Valley, has a rich, wild flavor, and a deep-brown stain for the hands that tear it from its ball-like covering of tough, pimply green which forms the outer husk. The nut is sometimes oblong, sometimes almost round, with a deeply grooved, hard, brown shell. It grows in pairs or solitary. The tree is large, often reaching the height of one hundred feet, and its trunk is from four to six feet in diameter. The bark is dark brown with deep vertical grooves and its surface is broken with thick scales. The leaves are compound, growing on a middle stem which is sometimes two feet long. Each leaflet is a narrow oval, sharply pointed at the end, and usually about three inches long. The nuts require frost to ripen them.

Butternut

While the butternut-tree is much like the walnut in general appearance, it does not grow as large. The nuts are different in shape and in flavor, and the leaflets are hairy instead of smooth. The butternut does not grow as far north as the walnut, but is often found side by side with the walnut in the Middle States. The green outer covering of the nut is oblong and sticky on the surface, and, like the walnut, will stain the hands. The shell is hard, brown, oblong, and pointed at one end. It is deeply grooved. The flavor is rich but the nut being oily soon becomes rancid.

Hickory nuts, sweet and bitter.

Hickory-Nuts

In gathering hickory-nuts you must be able to distinguish between the edible variety and others that are fair on the outside but bitter within. There are nine varieties of hickory-nut trees, and in general appearance they are alike. All have compound leaves and the leaflets are larger and fewer to the stem than the walnut, usually numbering from five to eleven. The nuts grow in small clusters as a rule, often in pairs, and the outer husk separates when ripe into four pieces, allowing the nut to drop out clean and dry. The full-grown tree is of good size and is found almost everywhere in the United States.

Shellbark. Shagbark

The shellbark or shagbark hickory-nut is one of the best. The flavor, as every one knows, is sweet and pleasant. It is the bark of the tree that gives it the name of shagbark, for it separates into long, ragged strips several inches wide which generally hold to the trunk at the middle and give it an unkempt, shaggy appearance.

Mockernut

The mockernut is the hickory-nut with a dark, brownish-colored shell, hard and thick and not easily cracked. It is called the mockernut because while the nut is large, usually larger than the shellbark, the kernel is very small and difficult to take out of the thick shell.

Nuts with soft shells. Beechnut and chestnut.

Pignut

I will italicize the pignut because, though I have never eaten it, I once tried to, and the first taste was all-sufficient. Some writers tell us that the flavor is sweet or slightly bitter. It was the decidedly bitter kind that I found lying temptingly clean and white under the tree. The thin outer husk of the pignut is not much larger than the nut. It is broader at the top than at the stem, where it narrows almost to a point. The husk does not open as freely as that of the other hickory-nuts. It is inclined to cling to the nut; in some cases it only partially opens and drops with the nut.

Beechnut

One of the sweetest and most delicately flavored of our native nuts is the little, triangular beechnut. The tree is common and widely distributed, but few people know anything about the nut. In Kentucky the nuts used to be plentiful, but I have seen none in New York. It is said that a beech-tree must be fully forty years old before it will bear fruit, and that may be the reason the nuts are not oftener found.

The soft-shelled nut is very small, no larger than the tip of your little finger. The color is pale brown, and it is three-sided with sharp angles. It is contained in a small, prickly husk and grows both solitary or in clusters of two or three. When touched by frost the burr opens and allows the nut to fall out while the burr remains on the tree.

The bark of the beech-tree is ashy gray, and the leaf is oblong, pointed at the tip, toothed on the edge, and strongly veined.

Chestnut

I find that the chestnut-tree is not as well known as its fruit, which is sold from stands on the street corners of most American cities. A round, green prickly burr is the husk of the nut, and this is lined inside with soft, white, velvety down. Nestled closely in this soft bed lie several dark-brown nuts with soft, polished shells. The first frost opens the burrs, and the sweet nuts fall to the ground.

You may recognize the tree in midsummer by its long-tasselled, cream-white blossoms, which hang in profusion from the ends of the branches. The chestnut is the only forest-tree that blossoms at that time, so you cannot mistake it. Later you will know it by the prickly green burrs, which develop quickly. The tree is large and common to most States. The leaves are from six to eight inches long; they are coarsely toothed at the edges, sharply pointed at the end, and are prominently veined on the under side. They grow mostly in tufts drooping from a common centre.

Bark and Roots of Trees

Slippery-Elm

The inner bark and the root of the slippery-elm are not only pleasant to the taste but are said to be nutritious. They have a glutinous quality that gives the tree its name, and the flavor is nutty and substantial.

This variety of elm is common and is found from the Saint Lawrence River to Florida. It grows to a height of sixty or seventy feet, with spreading branches which flatten at the top. The outline of the tree is much like that of a champagne-glass, wide at the top and narrow at the stem. The slippery-elm resembles the white elm, but there are differences by which you can know it. If you stroke the leaf of a white elm you will find that it is rough one way but smooth the other; stroke the leaf of the slippery-elm, and it will be rough both ways. The buds of the white elm are smooth, those of the slippery-elm are hairy. Then you cannot mistake the inner bark of the slippery-elm, which is fragrant, thick, and gummy. The outer bark is dark brown, with shallow ridges and large, loose plates. The leaves are oblong, rounded at the base, and are coarsely toothed. They are prominently veined and are dark green, paler on the under side.

Sassafras

The sassafras grows wild from Massachusetts to Florida, and west through the Mississippi Valley. It is generally a small tree, from thirty to fifty feet high, and is often found growing in dense thickets in uncultivated fields. The edible bark is dark red-brown. It is thick but not hard and is deeply ridged and scaled. The cracked bark is one of the characteristics of the tree; it begins to split when the tree is about three years old. The strong aromatic flavor is held by the bark, the wood, the roots, the stems, and the leaves. I have never tasted the fruit, which is berry-like, dark blue, and glossy, and is held by a thick, scarlet calyx; but the birds are fond of it.

Sassafras tea was at one time considered the best of spring medicines for purifying the blood, and the bark was brought to market cut in short lengths and tied together in bunches.

The leaves are varied; on one twig there will sometimes be three differently shaped leaves. Some will be oval, some with three lobes, and some mitten-shaped; that is, an oval leaf with a side lobe like the thumb of a mitten.

Salads. Watercress

There is no more refreshing salad than the watercress gathered fresh from a cool, running brook. It is a common plant, found almost anywhere in streams and brooks. Its smooth green or brownish leaves lie on the top of the water; they are compound, with from three to nine small rounded leaflets. The flavor is peppery and pungent. Watercress sandwiches are good. The white flowers are small and insignificant and grow in a small cluster at the end of the stem.

Dandelion

A salad of tender, young dandelion leaves is not to be despised, and the plant grows everywhere. Only the very young leaves, that come up almost white in the spring, are good. The flavor is slightly bitter with the wholesome bitterness one likes in the spring of the year. These young leaves are also good when cooked like spinach. The plant is so common it does not really call for a description, and if you know it you can skip the following:

Growing low on the ground, sometimes with leaves lying flat on the surface, the dandelion sends up a hollow, leafless stem crowned with a bright-yellow, many-petalled flower about the size of a silver fifty-cent piece. The seed head is a round ball of white down. The leaves are deeply notched, much like thistle leaves, but they have no prickles.

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