While hiking the Mt. Defiance Loop on Monday I saw these berries growing in profusion along the trail.  I was rationing water at this point and very inclined to snack on them...but I couldn't find anything in my field guide that they looked like.  They were small, light blue, and red gushed out when I squished them.  The plant itself grew low to the ground, and had pointy, serrated leaves.

On another note, can anyone recommend a good guide to edible plants of the area?  Later on in the hike I ID'd and then consumed some elderberries, which were rather good :)

---

--http://www.jessb.org

That's Cascade Oregon grape, and it's very, very common 'round these parts.  It's in the barberry family.

The fruit doesn't ripen until very late in the season (the berries in your photo don't look ripe yet), and it's edible but tastes awful: very sour/bitter.  I read somewhere that they taste okay after a hard freeze, which does something to the sugars -- but the birds know this too and suddenly the fruit gets a lot harder to find.

---

adamschneider.net
www.gpsvisualizer.com

Oregon grape has bright yellow flowers in the spring and is the state flower of Oregon.  I've heard that some folks make jelly out of the "grapes." 

---

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view.--E.Abbey

My wife made some awhile back, but it wasn't quite the hit that she had hoped for. It was ok, but I doubt she would make it again. Some tweaks to the recipe may have made a difference.

And just in case she reads this, her blueberry jam is to die for!!!

---

-jeff
OregonLens.com

Here's a photo I took last week of Oregon Grape and Bunch Berry (aka Dwarf Dogwood) along the Lookout Creek Old Growth Trail. I had wondered if Oregon Grape was edible so I stuck to eating the Huckleberries.

By the way, if you're into Huckleberry and/or Marionberry jam, Glenmore Farms of Canby, Oregon has THE best jams!  I've been ordering it by the case for years!

---

BILL BENS

We don't stop hiking because we get old.
We get old because we stop hiking!

Seeing that picture, it occurs to me that I've never actually seen the berries on a bunchberry plant!  I've seen the flowers, of course, and I even have a few photos of the leaves in the fall, but not the berries; maybe the birds snap 'em up.

---

adamschneider.net
www.gpsvisualizer.com

i love the sour taste of cascade oregon grape. it grows all around my house so i use it in jams and juices.

---

jamey pyles

Sure - Cascade Mahonia - Mahonia nervosa

I'm not sure if I should share one of my mushrooming secrets, but its a new observation, and maybe you can try it too and see if it's a bit reliable.

When you see thick patches of Cascade Mahonia, but specifically underneath live conifers like douglas fir or hemlock, move the foliage aside and see if you find more Chanterelle mushrooms.

Just so happens, that few Chanterelles grow down here near Red Buttes Wilderness, but where I found them recently, had a lot of Cascade Mahonia

---

M. D. Vaden of Oregon

Atlas Grove & Grove of Titans Redwoods