🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <robison1.747926970@husc10>, robison1@husc10.harvard.edu (Keith Robison) writes:
>I am looking for information on the human edibility of dogwood berries.
>I had always heard they were not, but my father came across a reference
>to making jams and jellies from the berries of Cornus maas (sp?). Is
>it true that some species have edible berries?  And just how inedible
>are the rest?

Hello Keith:  Cornus stolonifera or Red Willow or Redosier Dogwood is a 
woody shrub here in Montana.  H.D. Harrington says the red berries are used
raw or cooked.  Problem is, the berries are white, not red.  Hmmm.  I remember
the berries tasted bitter (which is a "good" property if you are an herbalist).
The Denai'ina of Alaska do not use the berries of this shrub.  However, they
do consider the berries of another species, Cornus canadensis, a small 
herbaceous plant, to be "hard to chew".  That is, they do not consider them
to be poisonous, just not worth harvesting.  Cornus florida found from ME to
FL, TX to KS, were once soaked in brandy and taken as a bitter digestive tonic.
All in all, I suspect that the berries would make a terrible jelly.

Robyn Klein, Herbalist