Viburnum edule

It is a deciduous, dicot shrub growing {{convert|0.5–2.5|m|ft|frac=2}} tall. The bark is smooth and reddish grey in colour, the twigs glabrous.{{Cite book |last1=Turner |first1=Mark |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VLbAAwAAQBAJ |title=Trees & Shrubs of the Pacific Northwest |last2=Kuhlmann |first2=Ellen |date=2014 |publisher=Timber Press |isbn=978-1-60469-263-1 |edition=1st |location=Portland, OR |pages=301}}

The leaves are opposite, elliptic in shape, {{convert|6–10|cm|frac=4}} long, unlobed or shallowly 3-lobed, jaggedly serrated, and turning red in autumn; their underside glabrous, especially along the veins.

The flowers are arranged in a small, compact, and flat or rounded inflorescence {{convert|1–3|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} across consisting of several flowers. The flowers are synoecious and fertile, the petals white and fused at the base forming a tube that flares into 5 lobes at the top; the stamens short (≤ 1mm){{Cite book|title=Illustrated Flora of British Columbia. Volume 2: Dicotyledons (Balsaminaceae Through Cucurbitaceae)|publisher=B.C. Ministry of Environment|year=1998|isbn=0772636850|editor-last=Douglas|editor-first=George W|location=Victoria, B.C.|pages=228–229|language=English|editor-last2=Meidinger|editor-first2=Dellis V|editor-last3=Pojar|editor-first3=Jim|editor-last4=Straley|editor-first4=G.B.}} and hidden within the corolla.{{Cite journal|last=Fernald|first=M. L.|title=Viburnum Edule and ITS Nomenclature |date=1941|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23301874|journal=Rhodora|volume=43|issue=513|pages=481–483|jstor=23301874 }}

Ripening early in spring,{{Cite book |last=Benoliel |first=Doug |title=Northwest Foraging: The Classic Guide to Edible Plants of the Pacific Northwest |publisher=Skipstone |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-59485-366-1 |edition=Rev. and updated |location=Seattle, WA |pages=101 |oclc=668195076}} the fruit is an edible red or orange berry-like drupe, {{convert|0.8–1.5|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} long, arranged in clusters, each fruit containing a single, flattened stone.{{Cite book|last=Moss|first=E. H. |title=Flora of Alberta: a manual of flowering plants, conifers, ferns and fern allies found growing without cultivation in the province of Alberta, Canada|publisher=University of Toronto Press|year=1983|isbn=978-1-4426-5737-3|edition=2nd|pages=515|oclc=903968374}}

File:Illustration of Viburnum edule.jpg

French botanist André Michaux is the first recorded authority to provide a scientific name for the plant, calling it Viburnum opulus var. Pimina or Viburnum trilobum var. edule in 1803. The name edule is derived from the latin word ĕdūlis, meaning edible.{{Cite book|last1=Lewis|first1=Charlton T.|url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0059:entry=edulis|title=A Latin Dictionary|last2=Short|first2=Charles|publisher=Oxford: Clarendon Press|year=1879}} The name Pimina refers to the common name for the plant used in Canada at the time. French naturalist Constantine Samuel Rafinesque observed the plant later in 1808, calling it Viburnum edule, V. opulus var. of Michaux. Lacking communication and consensus between naming authorities resulted in further names being provided for the same plant, the most popular being Viburnum pauciflorum. The discrepancy was eventually resolved, and the name Viburnum edule became the commonly accepted scientific name that is still in use today.File:Viburnum edule flowers.jpgViburnum edule was originally categorized as a member of the Caprifoliaceae (honeysuckle) family, however phylogenetic analysis has caused the plant to be re-classified as a member of the Adoxaceae (moschatel) family.{{Cite web|title=Dipsacales|url=http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/research/APweb/orders/dipsacalesweb.htm#Viburnaceae|access-date=2021-12-02|website=www.mobot.org}}{{Cite web|title=Viburnaceae Raf. {{!}} Plants of the World Online {{!}} Kew Science|url=http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77162522-1|access-date=2021-12-02|website=Plants of the World Online|language=en}}

File:Viburnum edule 1208001.jpg

Squashberry is distributed across Canada, all throughout Alaska, and in northern states of the US{{Cite web|title=Viburnum edule|url=https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/vibedu/all.html#1|access-date=2021-12-05|website=www.fs.fed.us}} Specifically, it can abundantly be found in the following regions: the Yukon, northern Quebec, western District of Mackenzie to James Bay, south Newfoundland to Oregon, Idaho, Colorado, Minnesota and Pennsylvania.{{Cite book|last=Moss|first=E. H. |title=Flora of Alberta: a manual of flowering plants, conifers, ferns, and fern allies found growing without cultivation in the Province of Alberta, Canada|date=1983|publisher=University of Toronto Press|author2=John G. Packer|isbn=0-8020-2508-0|edition=2nd |location=Toronto|oclc=12217114}} It will be found either as a dominant or codominant understory plant of coniferous forests.{{Cite journal|last1=Dyrness|first1=C. T.|last2=Cleve|first2=K. Van|last3=Levison|first3=J. D.|date=1989-11-01|title=The effect of wildfire on soil chemistry in four forest types in interior Alaska|url=https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/x89-213|journal=Canadian Journal of Forest Research|volume=19|issue=11|pages=1389–1396|doi=10.1139/x89-213|issn=0045-5067|url-access=subscription}} Oftentimes, squashberry grows abundantly in Picea glauca (white spruce) forests. Squashberry is also known to be an important pioneer species that grows early after forest fires.{{Cite journal|last=Foote|first=M. Joan|date=1983|title=Classification, description, and dynamics of plant communities after fire in the taiga of interior Alaska.|url=http://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/pubs/25349|journal=Res. Pap. PNW-RP-307. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station. 116 P|language=en|volume=307|doi=10.2737/PNW-RP-307|hdl=2027/umn.31951d02995285z|hdl-access=free}}

Squashberry can be found growing in moist soils of various forested regions.{{Cite book |last1=Inkpen |first1=Wayne |title=Guide to the common native trees and shrubs of Alberta |last2=Van Eyk |first2=Rob |publisher=Alberta Environmental Protection, Pesticide Management Branch |location=Edmonton |pages=50}} It is also found growing in dense areas of trees and shrubs, alongside wetlands and bodies of water, and at higher elevations on gravel banks. The ideal type of soil is moist alluvial soil with good drainage. This plant is dispersed through animals, such as birds and mammals, that carry, eat, digest, and excrete the seeds in different areas.

Many birds and mammals consume the wild berries, while smaller animals can use the plant as shelter.{{Cite book |last=Tannas |first=Kathy |title=Common plants of the western rangelands |date=2001 |publisher=Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development |isbn=0-7732-6154-0 |edition=2nd |location=Edmonton |oclc=48803622}}

With the seeds removed,{{Cite book |last1=Elias |first1=Thomas S. |title=Edible Wild Plants: A North American Field Guide to Over 200 Natural Foods |last2=Dykeman |first2=Peter A. |publisher=Sterling |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-4027-6715-9 |location=New York |pages=227 |oclc=244766414 |orig-date=1982}} the fruit is commonly consumed fresh and can be used to prepare foods such as jams and jellies.{{Cite book|last=Turner|first=Nancy J.|title=Ancient pathways, ancestral knowledge: ethnobotany and ecological wisdom of indigenous peoples of northwestern North America|publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press|year=2014|isbn=9780773543805|volume=1|page=69|oclc=1124369063}}

Multiple parts of the plant have been used in herbal medicine. The berries can be used to prepare herbal cough medicines, while the roots have been used to make tea for relief of tooth pain or a sore throat. The twigs of the plant can be chewed or gargled as a tea to also treat sore throat. Lip sores have been treated by massaging the closed flower buds of V. edule on the lips. Modern research efforts have found that the fruit contains high levels of antioxidants.{{Cite journal|last1=Leiner|first1=Roseann Hartke|last2=Holloway|first2=Patricia S.|last3=Neal|first3=David B.|date=2006|title=Antioxidant Capacity and Quercetin Levels in Alaska Wild Berries |journal=International Journal of Fruit Science|volume=6|issue=1|pages=83–91|doi=10.1300/j492v06n01_06|issn=1553-8362}}{{Cite journal|last1=Rop|first1=Otakar|last2=Reznicek|first2=Vojtech|last3=Valsikova|first3=Magdalena|last4=Jurikova|first4=Tunde|last5=Mlcek|first5=Jiri|last6=Kramarova|first6=Daniela|date=2010-06-23|title=Antioxidant Properties of European Cranberrybush Fruit (Viburnum opulus var. edule) |journal=Molecules|volume=15|issue=6|pages=4467–4477|pmc=6264302| doi=10.3390/molecules15064467|pmid=20657454 |issn=1420-3049 |doi-access=free }}

Numerous Indigenous peoples have traditionally used the plant. The Nuxalk people from the Bella Coola region of British Columbia utilize the berries for food due to the plant's rapid growth rate and high berry production.{{Cite journal |last1=Lepofsky |first1=Dana |last2=Turner |first2=Nancy J. |last3=Kuhnlein |first3=Harriet V. |author-link3=Harriet V. Kuhnlein |date=1985 |title=Determining the availability of traditional wild plant foods: An example of Nuxalk foods, Bella Coola, British Columbia |journal=Ecology of Food and Nutrition |volume=16 |issue=3 |pages=223–241 |doi=10.1080/03670244.1985.9990863 |issn=0367-0244}} Notably, a single Viburnum edule shrub can produce a yield of up to 100 berries.{{Cite journal |last1=Lepofsky |first1=Dana |last2=Turner |first2=Nancy J. |last3=Kuhnlein |first3=Harriet V. |author-link3=Harriet V. Kuhnlein |date=1985-05-01 |title=Determining the availability of traditional wild plant foods: An example of Nuxalk foods, Bella Coola, British Columbia |journal=Ecology of Food and Nutrition |volume=16 |issue=3 |pages=223–241 |doi=10.1080/03670244.1985.9990863 |issn=0367-0244}} Multiple First Nations groups on the northwestern coast of North America have cultivated V. edule plants, planting them in wild forest gardens.{{Cite book|last=Turner|first=Nancy J. |title=Plants, people, and places: the roles of ethnobotany and ethnoecology in Indigenous peoples' land rights in Canada and beyond|publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press|year=2020|isbn=978-0-2280-0183-6|page=126|oclc=1126217708}}{{Cite book|title=Keeping It Living: Traditions of Plant Use and Cultivation on the Northwest Coast of North America|publisher=University of Washington Press|year=2006|isbn=978-0-295-98565-7|editor-last=Deur|editor-first=Douglas|pages=119|editor-last2=Turner|editor-first2=Nancy J.}} Consumption of the berries was mentioned in multiple origin myths of the Haida people,{{Cite book|last=Swanton|first=John Reed |title=Contributions to the ethnology of the Haida|publisher=Leiden E. J. Brill |year=1905|pages=25, 261 |hdl=2246/5742 |hdl-access=free}} often depicted as the food eaten at feasts or consumed by supernatural beings. Inuit peoples near the Nain settlement in Newfoundland and Labrador are also known to traditionally collect the wild fruits.{{Cite journal|last1=Boulanger-Lapointe|first1=Noémie|last2=Gérin-Lajoie|first2=José|last3=Siegwart Collier|first3=Laura|last4=Desrosiers|first4=Sarah|last5=Spiech|first5=Carmen|last6=Henry|first6=Gregory H. R.|last7=Hermanutz|first7=Luise|last8=Lévesque|first8=Esther|last9=Cuerrier|first9=Alain|date=2019-01-11|title=Berry Plants and Berry Picking in Inuit Nunangat: Traditions in a Changing Socio-Ecological Landscape |journal=Human Ecology|volume=47|issue=1|pages=81–93|doi=10.1007/s10745-018-0044-5|issn=0300-7839|doi-access=free}}

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edule

Category:Flora of Canada

Category:Edible fruits

Category:Flora of the United States