High Sierra Edible Plants

[Justin Baker]

Hey guys, it's the perfect time of year so lets talk about edible plants in the High Sierra. I know some berries but that's about it.

Here are the edible berries that I know:

Sambucus mexicana – Blue Elderberries
Ribes nevadense – Blue Currants
Ribes montigenum – Mountain Gooseberry
Ribes cereum – Wax Currant (the most common one I've found)
Ribes roezlii – Spikey Gooseberry (don't know the common name, but it has sharp spikes on it)
Rubus parviflorus – Thimbleberry, very similar to wild blackberries and raspberries
Vaccinium caespitosum – Dwarf huckleberry, this is the only one I haven't eaten.

Am I missing any high sierra berries here?

Here is my haul from Kings Canyon a couple summers ago.

Disclaimer: Always do your own research or consult an expert, only you are responsible for eating something poisonous.

[Anonymous]

"Am I missing any high sierra berries here?"

Manzanita berries; Chinquapin nuts in season; Wild onions.

I've never come across Thimble berries in the Sierra. At what elevation did you find them? We have tons of them up here in the PNW, and I love them. It would make my day to find them in the Sierra

[Justin Baker]

Honestly don't know if they were thimbleberries, some kind of Rubus (blackberries, thimbleberries, rasberries, all simmilar and in the Rubus genus). Maybe more like a raspberry?

You can see them in my picture, they are the larger raspberry looking berries.

Just looked in my tree and shrub book and it says that Rubus parviflorus is the only Rubus that grows that high, up to 9,000 feet. It's the same thimbleberry you can find down to sea level.

The closest other possibility is Rubus leucodermis (Western Raspberry) but the book claims it only grows to 6,500 feet and from google images the berries tend to be dark purple or black like blackberries. So I'm pretty sure it wasn't that.

I found them in a riparian area in Junction Meadow along Bubbs Creek in Kings Canyon. 8,000 feet.

And yeah, they are tasty!!

edit: This guy seems to have found thimbleberries in the sierras too.
http://honest-food.net/2010/08/31/berries-of-the-sierra/

[David Gardner]

Don't forget Miners' Lettuce. Made a great meal once with only food that I had caught or gathered in the high Sierra near Woods Lake (elev. 8200'): trout, wild onions, miners' lettuce, and berries. Kind of a revelation, since this was the normal way of eating for most of human evolution.

[David Thomas]

+1 on miner's lettuce.

Be careful of "wild onions" – there are some nasty bulbs that look very similar. But if it has a distinctive onion/chive/garlic smell to it, my understanding is that those are all safe to consume – bulb, stem, and flowers.

My biggest Euell Gibbons moment was as camp cook on a hunting trip when I whipped up some fiddlehead-fern pesto from locally harvested fiddleheads and ingredients I'd brought along (always bring butter and garlic!).

Back to the High Sierra: Rose hips. I like nibbling on them as I hike, then spitting out the four pips. High in vitamin C, a few weight-free calories, and a way to pass some time on the trail; I like them over many wild plant foods because you don't have to slow down or bend over to harvest them.

Unlike in parks where they may have been sprayed, in the backcountry, dandelion greens, especially the youngest shoots, are good salad greens.

While few of these foods offer a ton of quick calories, the fiber could really help things "move along" in your GI tract and that can really save a trip.

[Justin Baker]

Yeah, I'm staying away from bulb plants for now while I get more experience.

I like rose hips as well.

Fiddleheads are always good.

Didn't know you could find miners lettuce that high up. Earlier this year in Henry Coe the miners lettuce was everywhere, I was sleeping in an edible field both nights. It went well with the bass we caught.

No really high sierra but I like eating the fresh young budding leaves of California Bay Laurel in the Spring.

I also like eating Manzanita flowers. Not really into the berries so much.

[Justin Baker]

Anybody know what time of year to harvest Chinquapin nuts?

[Anonymous]

"Anybody know what time of year to harvest Chinquapin nuts?"

Usually September, but that is under usual conditions, which I am not sure are any longer valid.

[Anonymous]

"Be careful of "wild onions" – there are some nasty bulbs that look very similar. But if it has a distinctive onion/chive/garlic smell to it, my understanding is that those are all safe to consume – bulb, stem, and flowers."

Wild onions are pretty hard to get wrong. The taste is a dead giveaway. Simply crush a small piece of leaf between your fingers and you will know instantly whether or not you are dealing with wild onion.

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