Red Raspberry
Category:
Vii Wild Food On The Trail
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.
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Edible Fruits, Nuts, Roots, and Plants
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