Berry Delicious! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Cloudberry

Cloudberries can be eaten fresh but they are quite tart, so most who pick them gather enough for a batch of jam or jelly or some other sweet dessert recipe. These plants grow so far north that they are only uncovered by snow for a few months each summer. They are easy to find because of their bright colour and unique shape.

Answer: False

Blueberries grow across southern Canada, in the Sierra Nevada, Cascades and along the east coast from Maine to North Carolina. They grow on low bushes that spread across the ground in a sort of carpet. They are sweet enough to eat right from the bush, but can be gathered for jams, jellies, pancakes, muffins, and many other uses in food.

Answer: Muscadine

Muscadine, or wild grapes, grow in various places from southern Canada to the southern United States. The skin is very tough and tart, so they are best eaten by popping the flesh out of the skins directly into your mouth. They also have large seeds, but those are edible if you want to swallow them. Muscadine are great for jellies and jams too.

Answer: Clumpberry

This berry normally grows on shrubs that are between two and seven feet tall. The branches and undersides of the leaves are covered in silvery or brownish scales. It is used by many in Canada and the United States for food and for medicinal purposes (in native cultures).

A unique property of this fruit is that it contains a substance that foams in water, hence one of its nicknames being the "soapberry".

Answer: Yes

Elderberries grow in large clumps on bushes that can reach 30 feet tall. The berries are quite tart and are typically picked, then cooked into pies, chutneys, jams and jellies. One must be quick, though. Once the berries are ripe, birds descend on the bushes and clear them off quite quickly.

In order to beat the birds, the blossoms can be picked and used to create a sweet syrup, a tea, or tossed into a salad for a slightly sweet twist on a "garden salad".

Answer: Silkworms

Mulberries are rich in antioxidants and Vitamin C. They are relatively sweet and can be eaten right from the tree, but can be used to make many other food and drink items. Traditionally, white mulberry trees have been grown in Asia and North America to feed silkworms because the worms feed exclusively on this tree. Silk moths lay their eggs on the mulberry leaves, and the worms hatch after fourteen days.

The worms feed on the leaves continuously, and the larvae eventually enclose themselves in a cocoon of raw silk produced by their salivary glands.

It is this cocoon that is harvested for the silk fibres.

Answer: Ribes

Gooseberries grow around the world on a thorny bush. They can be eaten as picked, but most prefer to cook them for sweet treats. The Ribes genus also includes currants, another berry that can sometimes be found growing wild. In the 19th century, pubic hair was often referred to as the "gooseberry bush" in Great Britain.

This may have led to the saying that babies are "born under a gooseberry bush". Raspberries belong to the Rubus genus, strawberries belong to the Fragaria genus, and blueberries and cranberries belong to the Vaccinium genus.

Answer: Dark pinkish purple

The salmon berry is one of the earliest wild berries to ripen in western North America. The blossoms are five-petalled and are a striking pink to reddish-purple. The fruits are raspberry-like with a hollow core, ranging from yellow to orange-red. Besides being attractive to humans, the pinkish-purple flowers of salmonberry are attractive to rufous hummingbirds as they are migrating north.

Answer: Juneberry

This berry is also called the pigeon berry, the Pacific serviceberry, western serviceberry, alder-leaf shadbush, dwarf shadbush, and the chuckley pear. The name "Saskatoon" for these berries that grow on shrubs across North America comes from the native Cree word "misâskwatômina". The city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan is named after this berry.

Answer: False

Barberries are an invader from Europe. The berries are now well-established in North America. Given that the shrub on which they grow is very thorny, many people pass over this berry, but they make a lovely jam or jelly for a special treat that is worth a few scratches to gather.