Native Fruits for Colonial Tastes

By Debra E. Marvin, horticulturalist and just a bit fruity herself.

I saw an article proclaiming  the United States only has 3 native fruits: blueberries, cranberries and Concord grapes. Wrong! First there’s that whole fruit vs vegetable discussion (tomatoes and peppers are fruits, by the way) and there are plenty of other fruits. Okay. Maybe not commercial successes... but it's a decent list.

While we do have wild grape (buckshot sized and super tart), the Concord Grape is a hybridized plant.

Colonials had to learn what new world fruits and nuts were safe to eat, and when. Here’s a list of native plants, shrubs and trees that bear edible fruit. But don’t run out to the store expecting to find anything but cranberries and blueberries. That much was right!

CRANBERRY – related to the blueberry and very similar in growth but they love wet feet. This is a well-known northeast native, famous for its preference for bogs (they love soil acidity) and for showing up on that Thanksgiving table.

 

Cranberry shrub --just before flooding for harvest

HUCKLEBERRY – also called  Bilberry and sometimes ‘red blueberry’. Tarter than blueberries and have a noticeably different taste, and larger seeds. A favorite childhood memory for me is having Huckleberry Pie at my grandma's house in Pennsylvania. This plant seems to thrive in wooded, mountainous areas.

Immature PawPaw fruit

PAWPAW – the largest edible fruit native to the Colonies. It may have been named for its similarity to the tropical Papaya because it does not resemble any other fruit we know. Another name is Kentucky Banana! This is a large shrub that flowers in spring. Those flowers tend to smell yeasty at one point, rotten at another, or so I'm told. Fruit grows through the season until it is a large 2-6” yellow oblong. The flesh looks like a mango with big black seeds but is soft enough to eat like custard and tastes like banana, or melon depending on whom you ask.  This is the fruit world’s answer to the Aardvark.

SERVICEBERRY – few trees are as special and underused as the Amelanchier or “Serviceberry” (or Sarvisberry, Shadbush, Shadblow, Shadwood, Junebery, Saskatoon or SugarPlum) There are ~20 species of shrub to tree forms and all are a favorite of birds. Fresh fruits have a blueberry/almond flavor but are usually tart. The Native American food PEMMICAN sometimes had serviceberry fruits added with the meat and fat before dried into a meat ‘leather’. A great fruit for pies and jam and the tree has year round appeal. I happen to have serviceberry jam in my pantry right now.

WILD STRAWBERRY – these tiny fruits were native to Europe as well. They have a stronger taste than the hybridized strawberry and are special treats to eat, but require a huge number for any other use, due to their size and small populations.

A colony of Mayapple. A favorite sight in... May

MAY APPLE – or Mayapple.  Native to woodland borders in Eastern North America.  A curious umbrella shaped spring plant related to the Mandrake, and yes, poisonous as well, except for the edible fruit. They are not so tasty that you’d ever eat enough to get sick on, but the leaves and roots are dangerous. Like other spring understory plants, the Mayapple dies back by midsummer, but in this case, the fruit keeps growing on a small vine. Mayapples grow in small clonal colonies and provided fruit for colonial preserves.

Failing MayApple plant in summer, the fruit will continue to ripen

AMERICAN PLUM – aka Wild Plum. A true member of the plum and cherry family, Prunus americana is a wide-spread native with pretty white blossoms in spring. A shrubby plant, it spreads by suckers and colonists would have to compete with birds when the fruit ripened. Their sweet/sour taste can be enjoyed fresh, preserved or made into wine.

THIMBLEBERRY – a cousin of the raspberry, found along the edge of woodlands. It’s a dense shrub but has no prickly stems like raspberry. They are much more common in the western Great Lakes area than the Eastern seaboard. (Carrie, have you eaten these?) Thimbleberries are a soft fruit and don’t hold up or ship well, but great for pies and jam. Very seedy and sometimes not very sweet. Jams are often ½ sugar, ½ fruit.

BEACH PLUM – or ‘Seaside Plum’ Prunus maritimus (I heart scientific names!) A shrubby plant, 3-7’ tall that loves sandy soil. The blue fall fruit, smaller than imported plums, is now being grown commercially for jam. 

Beach Plum!

WILD BLACK CHERRY – a big tree with tiny white blossoms in spring. This is a bitter fruit for most of our palates. The pits and leaves can be poisonous (cyanide) and must be removed from pastures, but the fruit was used for pies and jams and the wood is still sought after for furniture. Birds can make a mess with their purple stained droppings!

BLACK RASPBERRY -- not just from Oregon! They are also native to the east coast and are enjoyed fresh during their 2-3 week harvest period as well as. . . you guessed it. . .  perfect for pies and jams. I have a shrub next to my kitchen which provides 1/3 of the fun for Triple Berry Cobbler on Fourth of July.

BLUEBERRY – a cousin to the cranberry and, in the wild, very non-committal about their harvest time-- May through August depending on weather and altitude, and they prefer slopes and mountain sides, where they thrive on acidic soil.  The ‘lowbush’ variety has a snazzy red leaf in fall. Blueberries are white inside while Bilberries are purple inside –just in case you are out wandering and need to know.  Blueberries are difficult to grow without nets as birds seem to know exactly what day they are ripe (that’s my experience, anyway).

That's my list of native "Colonial" fruits. How many of these have you tried?