While out in the boonies I came across high bush cranberry bushes. Except that they were not all that high and bushy, more vine-like trunks growing along the ground before popping up, with very little root on them. They were thriving under the canopy of trees as they worked their way out towards the light. I don’t know if it was a feature of the growing conditions and age of the plants but they did not seem like they planned on becoming the big high bush cranberries usually are.
Obviously I stuffed a bunch of them in a bucket with soil. They made the trip looking more dead than alive but after transplanting them and removing most of the leaves and branches they seem to be snapping back.
Any experience with wild (not so high) cranberry bushes somebody here cares to share? I recently picked a Bailey compact cranberry bush, which is basically a ‘discovered’ cranberry bush named by somebody and sold by nurseries. That one is definitely more bush shape, albeit shorter than a regular cranberry bush. I’m going to also grow this wild variety because the amount and quality of the Bailey fruit seems to be substandard, it is mostly grown as an ornamental.
Sounds like a interesting cranberry bush
Your in Alaska , but if you weren’t A vining One sounds more like Bitter sweet
(we have native ,and a Oriental invasive)
supposed to be poison but a taste (and I spit it out) they have a nice sweet taste.
Actually just checked my Native seeds I had bagged up.
a couple hours ago I have sitting by my other seeds already planted.
maybe good to deter birds away from other crops (like Clarkinks does with Mulberries()
and pretty as well.
The High Bush Cranberry or Squashberry that is native to Alaska (Viburnum edule) is a different species than the High Bush Cranberry of trade in the lower 48 (V. trilobum). To my knowledge the latter is pretty much always an upright bush unless pushed over mechanically, but the Alaskan native V. edule not uncommonly takes a straggling form similar to what you describe.
The brown trunk would run at soil level but under the forest detritus. The green portion then grows up. What was strange is that it was not all that prone to put out roots, the ‘trunks’ would run for a good length of soil without developing meaningful roots.
If the Viburnum edule ID is correct it goes by various names including squashberry, few-flowered highbush cranberry, highbush cranberry, lowbush cranberry and mooseberry.
This is what the green berries I removed look like:
What is the taste
Our High bush is very sour supposed to make good wine,
but never gathered enough or misplaced what I have on bike ride.
wanted to try dried or in tea as well
Blue berry — what is the taste of those you have – will you have any seeds
I could mail SASE
you said
I have a JN Select Redwing, an Andrews and several Phillips highbush cranberries.
WENTWORTH AND HAHS are also good varieties. (Viburnum trilobum)
I have no idea. I just found out about them from the place I was staying at.
According to reports Viburnum edule seem to have a superior flavor. I would be curios to see how it behaves as a potted plant; how it grows, how productive its is under optimal sun/soil conditions, and of course what it tastes like. I have a forested area where if they want to go wild there they can have it.
I have a high bush cranberry from honeyberryusa. It’s probably the lower 48 version. It really struggled to come out of dormancy after this winter and had some winter kill.
If you ever head towards Homer or Seward, take a break at Tern Lake. I saw some tall cranberry looking bushes around there, complete with red berries (late August) not far from the road across from the pull out. I thought I took some pics but can’t find them now.
my property is surrounded with dozens of wild highbush cranberry. not a fan of the flavor myself. the smell of it gets to me. tried it as jelly. they fruit very heavily and the fruit hangs almost until spring.
I’ve heard the Alaska/NW subspecies is the one that’s best to eat. @don1357 you’ll have to let us know what you think!
I’ve also heard that the European species is pretty well established in the wild here, and is more common than the native in some places. That one is supposed to be very un-tasty. Maybe that’s what you have, Steve?
To add to the “I heard” I’ll add that I heard a lot of confusion exists in the lower 48 because the European highbush cranberry was brought over as an ornamental, doesn’t taste as good, in some places it has crosspollinated native populations lowering the fruit quality, and some nurseries have sold it as the American version.
I’ll definitely make a note of that, I should be heading that way for salmon next month.
There’s probably closer sources for you but on the Glenn highway, Sheep mountain, if you go up yellow jacket creek there are lingonberries on the right bank. Probably a mile up? If you keep looking you’ll eventually spot them. Next hot weekend day I may head up there for a hike and bring down some, they would make for good ground cover around a tree or two.
Looking at my guide, there are three species in question here. Cranberry viburnum (V. trilobum), Guelder-rose/European highbush cranberry (V. opulus) and Squashberry (V. edule). Squashberry is described as a “Northern straggling shrub” that makes excellent jam. That fit’s @don1357 's description. For the cranberries, the Euro species is similar to trilobum, but “glands of leafstalks concave on top; leaf lobes less long-pointed. Stipules more slender and pointed and fruits more bitter.” From Peterson Guide to Trees and Shrubs for NE US and SE Canada.
Folks, I am impressed with the breath of expertise displayed here. These are certainly rather obscure subjects. Here’s a picture from the site BlueBerry posted:
It looks like a dead ringer for the ones I collected, down to the green immature berries. I need to get better at recording plants in the wild.
