Some
Lummi
Food
Plants
Trailing Black
Currant
Salmonberry (Rubus
spectabilis)
(Ribes laxiflorum)
Blue Elderberry
(Sambucus nigra)
Saskatoon or Western
Serviceberry
(Amelanchier alnifolia)
The Lummi recognize, name and use several native plants of the
Pacific Northwest for food.
Here are several of those plants with details regarding their use
that were documented in the early half of the 20th Century
(Gunther, 1981).
The species depicted here represent sources of edible fruits and
underground structures that were used as indicated below:
•
Trailing Black Currant: Berries eaten fresh.
•
Blue Elderberry: Berries steamed on rocks, cooled and eaten in
the winter.
•
Indian Plum: Berries eaten fresh.
Red Huckleberry: Berries used for food.
•
Oregon-grape: Berries eaten.
•
Nootka Rose: Twigs peeled, boiled and used as a beverage.
Hips dried and used for food.
•
Salmonberry: Berries eaten fresh. Sprouts cooked in a pit and
eaten with dried salmon.
•
Saskatoon or Western Serviceberry: Berries dried, boiled with
dog salmon and eaten at feasts.
•
Beaked or California Hazelnut: Nuts eaten fresh.
•
Bracken Fern: Rhizomes roasted, peeled and the starchy
centers eaten.
•
Tiger or Columbia Lily: Corms steamed and eaten.
Botanically, many “berry” plants are considered to produce fruits
that are defined and named (true) berries (blue elderberry, red
huckleberry and Oregon-grape); drupes (Indian plum); an
aggregate of druplets (salmonberry); achenes produced inside a
hip (rose); or pomes (serviceberry). The fruit of the hazelnut is
generally and botanically considered to be a type of nut.
And many “root” foods actually are corms (as in tiger lily) or
rhizomes which are modified underground stems (as in bracken
fern).
Please note that some plants, while used
as sources of food, also may be known to
produce toxins (e.g., bracken fern).
Indian plum or
Osoberry (Oemleria
cerasiformis)
Beaked or California
Hazelnut (Corylus
cornuta)
Red
Huckleberry
(Vaccinium
parvifolium)
Oregon-grapes, Tall or
Holly-leaf
(Berberis aquifolium)
(above) &
Dull or Cascade (B.
nervosa) (below)
Reference
Gunther, E. (1981). University of Washington Publications in
Anthroplogy: Vol. X, No. 1. Ethnobotany of western Washington:
The knowledge and use of indigenous plants by Native
Americans. Seattle: University of Washington Press. (Original
work published 1945).
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Photo Credits
"Ribes laxiflorum (Flower)" by Christian Hummert (Ixitixel) - Own work. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ribes_laxiflorum_(Flower).jpg#mediaviewer/File:Ribes_laxiflorum_(Flower).jpg
"Sambucus caerulea 7997". Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sambucus_caerulea_7997.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Sambucus_caerulea_7997.jpg
"Oemleria cerasiformis 04012" by Walter Siegmund - Own work. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oemleria_cerasiformis_04012.JPG#mediaviewer/File:Oemleria_cerasiformis_04012.JPG
"Oemleria cerasiformis 15165" by Walter Siegmund - Own work. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oemleria_cerasiformis_15165.JPG#mediaviewer/File:Oemleria_cerasiformis_15165.JPG
"Vaccinium parvifolium" by Original uploader was Meggar at en.wikipedia - Transferred from en.wikipedia. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vaccinium_parvifolium.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Vaccinium_parvifolium.jpg
"Vaccinium parvifolium 0325" by Walter Siegmund (talk) - Own work. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 via Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vaccinium_parvifolium_0325.JPG#mediaviewer/File:Vaccinium_parvifolium_0325.JPG
"Mahonia aquifolium" by Original uploader was Meggar at en.wikipedia - Originally from en.wikipedia; description page is/was here.. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mahonia_aquifolium.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Mahonia_aquifolium.jpg
"Berberis aquifolium 4207" by Walter Siegmund (talk) - Own work. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 via Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Berberis_aquifolium_4207.JPG#mediaviewer/File:Berberis_aquifolium_4207.JPG
"Mahonia nervosa 5003" by Walter Siegmund (talk) - Own work. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 via Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mahonia_nervosa_5003.JPG#mediaviewer/File:Mahonia_nervosa_5003.JPG
"Mahonia nervosa 5051" by Walter Siegmund (talk) - Own work. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 via Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mahonia_nervosa_5051.JPG#mediaviewer/File:Mahonia_nervosa_5051.JPG
"Rosa nutkana 07513" by Walter Siegmund - Own work, Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ5. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rosa_nutkana_07513.JPG#mediaviewer/File:Rosa_nutkana_07513.JPG
"Salmonberry Blossom" by David McMaster (= user BlindGoofy) - This photograph was taken by David McMaster. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 via Wikimedia
Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Salmonberry_Blossom.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Salmonberry_Blossom.jpg
"Bowl of salmonberries" by Ariasnow - Own work (Original text: “Ariasnow”). Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bowl_of_salmonberries.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Bowl_of_salmonberries.jpg
"Amelanchier alnifolia 6338" by Walter Siegmund (talk) - Own work. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 via Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Amelanchier_alnifolia_6338.JPG#mediaviewer/File:Amelanchier_alnifolia_6338.JPG
"Amelanchier alnifolia". Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Amelanchier_alnifolia.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Amelanchier_alnifolia.jpg
"Corylus cornuta". Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Corylus_cornuta.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Corylus_cornuta.jpg
"Corylus cornuta, nut". Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Corylus_cornuta,_nut.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Corylus_cornuta,_nut.jpg
"Adelaarsvaren planten Pteridium aquilinum". Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Adelaarsvaren_planten_Pteridium_aquilinum.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Adelaarsvaren_planten_Pteridium_aquilinum.jpg
"Pteridium aquilinum nf" by Carl Axel Magnus Lindman - http://runeberg.org/nordflor/508.html. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pteridium_aquilinum_nf.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Pteridium_aquilinum_nf.jpg
"Lilium columbianum 9527" by Walter Siegmund (talk) - Own work. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 via Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lilium_columbianum_9527.JPG#mediaviewer/File:Lilium_columbianum_9527.JPG
Nootka
Rose (Rosa
nutkana)
Bracken Fern
(Pteridium
aquilinum)
Tiger or
Columbia Lily
(Lilium
columbianum)