Wild Blueberries?

[windsurfer]

Hey All!

Are these the wild blueberries talked about in North Florida? The berries are more black in color with a light, seedy inside. The small leaves are from a ground cover and the large leaf is from a good sized bush/tree with scaley(?) bark. Could they be lowbush and highbush, or just young and old?

Thanks

 

[30A Skunkape]

Bring some to the county extension agent for identification. It is never a good idea to eat something you can't identify!

 

[windsurfer]

Thanks- I was hoping they were blueberries, but after some research at the extension's website, well, they could be anything. I emailed them some pics to identify.

 

[Jdarg]

Thanks- I was hoping they were blueberries, but after some research at the extension's website, well, they could be anything. I emailed them some pics to identify.

Please post when you get an answer. We have these in our yard too, and my son thought they were some sort of blueberry too.

 

[Kurt]

The green leaf looks kind of like Pokeweed (poke salad Annie). Most of which is poisonous.

Put the berries out and if the birds don't eat them neither should you. If the birds or something else eats them find someone who knows what they are. WalCo IFAS extension will tell you.

We do have some great wild dewberries that grow along the sides of the roads and other open areas.

 

[barefootguy]

There are a lot of wild blueberries around, and even some bushes planted as landscaping in some area communities, but they're not ripe yet. The dewberries are plentiful now, and the blueberries and black berries can be found ripe in June and July.

All that said, I wouldn't eat those berries until you find out what they are.

I checked on some blueberries today and they were big and green.

 

[seacrestkristi]

What do the dewberries look like? Can you bake them in a cobbler?

 

[barefootguy]

Dewberries look like blackberries. Actually, they are blackberries that grow on a vine that crawls (a trailing cane) instead of the tall vines (canes) like blackberries, raspberries, etc. And they ripen earlier. It also looks like they're about done for this year. You can still find quite a few that birds and people haven't picked, but they're starting to get over-ripe.

 

[seacrestkristi]

Thanks barefootguy! I mighta ate one already thinkin' it was a blackberry. :scratch:

 

[windsurfer]

Well, I talked to the extension office after I emailed them pictures of the actual bushes and they thought the smaller, alternating leaf bushes were sparkleberrys and the larger leaf could be wild blueberry. The sparkleberry leaves were waxy, and the others weren't.

Then while walking late yesterday, I found 4 different berry bushes all with different leaf configurations, viens, waxiness, but with the same berry type. Can't be sure yet. The extension office did say that the blueberries may also be black.I'm wondering if they will be blue first so that it's obvious? I think I'll take some samples up to DeFuniak to see if they can tell more. They also didn't suggest to eat any of them, but that's probably a liability concern.

Been picking alot of dewberries the last couple of weeks, and they are on their way out and not much new growth. A little rain may help - not happening. At least it's good weather for the bikers.