Berries that grow in the forest. How to teach a child to distinguish edible wild berries from poisonous ones? Buckthorn berries are inedible

Wild berries differ in many ways from domesticated berries bred artificially. Of course, the most important difference between them is their vitamin content. Not a single garden berry can boast such a rich vitamin storehouse as even the smallest wild forest berry. But not all “goodies” from forest edges and clearings are edible and harmless to people. Many berries are not only inedible, but even fatally harmful to the human body. So, let's try to figure out which wild flattering berries are edible and beneficial for humans, and which are poisonous and harmful.

Inedible wild berries are dangerous to health

Nature is insidious and dangerous, and this applies, first of all, to some wild berries. In the world of berries, as in the world of mushrooms, the brightest and most attractive berries are the most dangerous and poisonous.

The list of berries dangerous to humans includes:

fruits" Hemlock mottled",
"Crow's Eye"
"Nightshade bittersweet",
berries from the Arum tree,
"Wild grapes ",
mistletoe berries,
privet berries,
Datura berries,
euonymus berries,
castor bean berries,
wolfberry,
black nightshade berries,
"Voronets red-fruited",
"Snowberry white".

This is not the entire list of poisonous berries that you may encounter in the forest, but, nevertheless, the most dangerous ones are named. But even among this list of especially dangerous wild berries, there are those that are the most harmful to the human body, one might even say deadly.

"Speckled whitehead"- outwardly these berries are small, egg-shaped, as if slightly flattened on the sides. These berries have a burning, unpleasant taste; if they get into the mouth, their burning-bitter taste practically burns the mouth and lips. Just 3-5 berries of this species can lead to death outcome.

"Crow's eye"- the juicy blue-black berries of this species really attract the eye. But these berries are deadly; a person only needs to eat 5 pieces to get complete and irrevocable paralysis of the entire body.

"Bittersweet palena" - bright red shiny berries, small in size, juicy and fleshy, have an oval slightly elongated shape. They taste sweet and fragrant in smell, nothing portends trouble, but, alas, just a handful of these berries can cause a terrible rash, severe skin irritation, and especially difficult cases allergic reaction It can even lead to painful death.

Edible wild berries

Nature is better and smarter than people, and therefore by creating poisonous berries, she awarded the birds the ability to distinguish them from edible berries. If you come across an unfamiliar berry in the forest, take a close look at the fruit and the soil around the bush or tree. If you see that these berries are to the taste of birds (bite marks, bird droppings or berry peels, obviously eaten by someone, will tell you this), then they are suitable for human food.

Edible flattering berries include:

bird cherry,
cowberry ,
blackberry,
blueberry ,
barberry,
mulberries (both black and white),
black elderberry,
blueberry ,
cloudberry,
juniper,
bramble,
dogwood,
sea buckthorn ,
cranberry ,
turn,
prince.

These are small fleshy or juicy fruits that are collected from bushes and herbs. You need to understand that in botany, fruits are classified in their own way (tomatoes are considered berries, and raspberries and strawberries are considered fruits). To avoid confusion, fruits are distinguished from berries mainly by size. Humanity has been eating berries for almost its entire century: even under the primitive communal system, gathering helped to survive. These fruits are still valued today: for their taste, low calorie content and rich vitamin and mineral composition.

Watermelon

It is a source of essential amino acids, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. It is low in calories and fat, but contains fiber. These berries have long been used in cosmetology, and now their properties are being actively studied by doctors. When consumed in moderation, watermelon helps maintain normal functioning of the cardiovascular and digestive systems, it also contributes to the body's antioxidant defenses and helps prevent the development of many chronic diseases.

Barberry

Barberry belongs to the genus of shrubs, less often trees, of the Barberry family. These are deciduous, semi-evergreen (the foliage partially falls off), evergreen shrubs or small trees, with ribbed, erect shoots that branch under acute angle. The bark is brownish-gray or brownish-gray in color. It also has another name - caramel tree.

Cowberry

Lingonberry is a perennial, low, evergreen, branching subshrub reaching a height of 10 to 20 cm. The leaves are small, petiolate, leathery, shiny. The flowers are white and pink bells, 5 mm long, collected at the top of the branches in sparse clusters. Blooms in May - early June. Lingonberry fruits are small, bright red berries with a characteristic sweet and sour taste. Ripens in August-September. Lingonberry is a wild forest berry. It is found in the tundra, as well as in forest areas, in the temperate climate zone.

Elder

Elderberry is a perennial woody plant from the honeysuckle family. Shrub or small tree reaching 3-10 m in height. The trunk and branches are gray. Leaves are opposite, petiolate, imparipinnate. The flowers are small, fragrant, creamy or yellowish-white. Blooms from May to the first half of June. The elderberry fruit is black-purple, berry-shaped. Ripens in August - September.
In the wild, black elderberry is found between bushes on the edges of forests in middle lane The European part of Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic states and Belarus, Crimea, the Caucasus, and southeast Russia. Elderberry grows in both sunny and shady places. Reproduction is carried out by dividing old bushes, layering and sowing seeds.

Grape

Already in ancient times, grapes and their derivatives were valued not only for their taste, but also for their medicinal properties. Modern scientific medicine confirms that berries contain a large number of antioxidants that protect the body from chronic diseases of the cardiovascular and nervous systems, and also help fight free radicals. Even a high sugar content does not spoil the berry, since it also contains substances that improve the absorption of glucose.

Goji berries

Goji Berries ( common wolfberry) or Lycium barbarum belongs to a group of plants with the common collective name “wolfberry”. By the way, not all plants in this group have a toxic effect on humans - some of its species have unique healing properties. Since ancient times, goji berry has been used in Chinese medicine to increase libido in women and men, as well as to lift mood and improve well-being in stressful situations. It is believed that this plant helps fight cancer cells, improves immunity and prolongs life.

Blueberry

Blueberry is a small shrub up to 1 meter high with gray smooth curved branches. Leaves are up to 3 cm long. Flowers are small, five-toothed, white or pinkish. Blueberry fruits are blue with a bluish bloom, juicy edible berries up to 1.2 cm long.
Sometimes blueberries are called drunkards or gonobobels because they supposedly intoxicate and drive away pain in the head. But in fact, the culprit of these phenomena is wild rosemary, which often grows next to blueberries.
Blueberries are harvested for consumption either raw or processed. They make jam and are also used to make wine.

Cherry

A tree or shrub, usually with several trunks 1.5-2.5 m high, rarely up to 3 m and higher.
The leaves are dark green, oval, pubescent below, strongly corrugated, with a pointed end. The flowers are white, white with pink (less often pink), up to 2.5 cm in diameter. Cherry fruits are oval drupes, red when ripe, sweet (sometimes with sourness) in taste, smaller than ordinary cherries (0.8-1.5 cm in diameter), covered with small fluff. Depending on the region, they ripen from the end of June to the end of July, and on the same tree almost simultaneously; Cherries bear fruit abundantly, usually in the third year and up to 15-20 years annually.

Melon

Plant of the Pumpkin family, species of the Cucumber genus, melon crop, false berry.
Melon is a warm and light-loving plant, resistant to soil salinity and drought, and does not tolerate high air humidity. Depending on the variety and place of cultivation, one plant can produce from two to eight fruits weighing from 1.5 to 10 kg. Melon fruits are spherical or cylindrical in shape, green, yellow, brown or white in color, usually with green stripes. The ripening period of melon is from two to six months.

Blackberry

A perennial subshrub of the Rubus genus, belonging to the Rosaceae family. Blackberries are widespread in northern and temperate latitudes ah of the Eurasian continent, in coniferous and mixed forests, in the floodplain, in forest-steppe zone. There are practically no garden blackberries, so lovers of this berry have to rely on nature’s favor and wait for a good harvest of this wild berry.

Strawberry

Strawberry is a perennial herbaceous plant of the Rosaceae family, up to 20 cm high. The rhizome is short, oblique, with numerous additional brownish-brown, thin roots. The stem is erect, leafy, covered with hairs. The leaves are on long petioles, trifoliate, dark green above, bluish-green below, softly pubescent. Rooting shoots develop from the axils of the basal leaves. Blooms from May to July. The flowers are white, located on long stalks. The strawberry fruit is a false fruit, incorrectly called a berry. It is an overgrown fleshy, fragrant, bright red receptacle. Strawberries ripen in July - September.

Irga

Amazing plant, family Rosaceae. It is undemanding to growing conditions, can normally tolerate frosts down to -40 -50 degrees, and during flowering frosts down to -5 -7 degrees. Irga grows well in soils of varying composition and acidity. But there is an indispensable condition - if you want to get a harvest of large, sweet berries with the aroma of freshness, you need to give the shadberry a sunny place. Therefore, serviceberry bushes should be placed at a distance of at least 2.5-3 m, unless you intend to grow a high hedge, for which serviceberry is very suitable.

Kalina

lat. Viburnum
Red berry with a fairly large seed. Viburnum ripens at the end of September after the first frost. Before this, the berry is quite sour with a bitter taste, but under the influence of slight frosts it acquires sweetness. Widely used in folk medicine.

Dogwood

Shrub 5-7 meters high, sometimes a small tree. Dogwood has been cultivated by mankind for a very long time; historians report dogwood seeds found more than 5 thousand years ago during excavations of human settlements located on the territory of modern Switzerland. Nowadays, 4 types of dogwood are cultivated in most of Europe (in France, Italy, countries of Eastern Europe, Ukraine, Moldova, Russia), in the Caucasus, in Central Asia, China, Japan and North America.

Strawberry

Strawberry is a perennial herbaceous plant, 15-35 cm high, belongs to the Rosaceae family.
The stem is erect, the leaves are large, light green in color. Corymbose inflorescences of 5-12 flowers on short, densely pubescent pedicels. The flowers are usually unisexual, five-petaled, white, with a double perianth. Between the beginning of strawberry flowering and the beginning of strawberry ripening, a period of 20 to 26 days passes.

Cranberry

It is an evergreen plant, a shrub with thin and low shoots. The length of the shoots is on average about 30 cm, wild cranberry berries are red, spherical, 8-12 mm in diameter. Some specially bred varieties have berries up to 2 cm in diameter. Cranberries bloom in June, berry picking begins in September and continues throughout the fall. Plantation berries ripen 1-2 weeks earlier than wild ones. Cranberries can easily be stored until spring.

Red Ribes

Red currant is a small deciduous perennial shrub of the Gooseberry family (Grossulariaceae). Unlike black currants, the bushes are more compressed and elongated upward. Strong and thick annual shoots growing from the base of the bush are used to form it and replace old, dying branches, but over the years their progressive growth fades.

Gooseberry

A perennial, multi-stemmed shrub with a long fruiting period and high yield - up to 20-25 kg per bush. Gooseberry bushes reach up to 1.5 m in height and up to 2 m in diameter. Gooseberry is a plant of temperate latitudes, tolerates light shading, but is quite moisture-loving. The gooseberry root system is located at a depth of up to 40 cm. It is best placed along the fence at a distance of 1-1.5 m from bush to bush. Over time, they grow, forming a continuous thorny wall.

Schisandra

Schisandra is a large climbing shrub-liana from the magnolia family. Its length reaches fifteen meters, and entwining trees, lemongrass resembles a grapevine. The thickness of the stem is 2 centimeters. The plant takes the form of a bush in northern regions. Schisandra berries are 2-seeded, bright red, juicy, spherical, very sour. The seeds smell like lemon and have a bitter, pungent taste. The bark of the roots and stems also smells like lemon, hence the name Schisandra.

Raspberries

The deciduous subshrub Rubus idaeus, or common raspberry, is distributed throughout the world - from Alaska and the Aleutian Islands to Hawaii. People usually call raspberry fruits berries, which does not correspond to their definition in the botanical classification. From this point of view, a more accurate name for the raspberry fruit is “multifrupe.”
From the list of berry crops, raspberries stand out for their high concentration of antioxidants, which prevent damage to body cells and stop the aging process. This gives the right to call raspberries “the berry of health and longevity.”

Cloudberry

A small perennial herbaceous plant with a creeping branched rhizome. The stem is simple, erect. 10-15 cm in height, ending in a single white flower. The leaves are wrinkled, heart-shaped, with a lobed edge. The cloudberry fruit is a clustered drupe, reddish at first, and amber-yellow when ripe. Cloudberries bloom in May and June and ripen in July and August. The fruit is acid-spicy, wine-like.

Sea buckthorn

A shrub or small tree reaching a height of three to four meters with branches covered with small thorns and green, slightly elongated leaves.
Sea buckthorn is wind pollinated and blooms in late spring. The fruits are small (up to 8-10 mm), orange-yellow or red-orange, oval in shape. The name for this plant “Sea Buckthorn” is very apt, since its berries are on very short stalks and sit very closely on the branches, as if clinging to them. The berries have a rather pleasant sweet and sour taste, as well as a peculiar, unique aroma that vaguely resembles pineapple. This is why sea buckthorn is sometimes called the northern, or Siberian, pineapple.

Olives

An evergreen subtropical tall tree of the genus Olive (Olea) of the Olive family (Oleaceae).
The height of an adult cultivated olive tree is usually five to six meters, but sometimes reaches 10-11 meters or more. The trunk is covered with gray bark, gnarled, twisted, and usually hollow in old age. The branches are gnarled and long. The leaves are narrow-lanceolate, gray-green in color, do not fall off in the winter and are renewed gradually over two to three years. Fragrant flowers very small, from 2 to 4 centimeters long, whitish, in one inflorescence from 10 to 40 flowers. The fruit is an elongated oval-shaped olive, 0.7 to 4 centimeters long and 1 to 2 centimeters in diameter, with a pointed or blunt nose, fleshy, the olives contain a pit inside.

Rowan

Tree up to 10 m tall, less commonly a shrub from the Rosaceae family. Rowan fruits are spherical, berry-shaped, red, sour, bitter, slightly tart in taste. After the first frost, the fruits lose their astringency and become tasty and somewhat sweet. Blooms in May - early June. The fruits ripen in September, remaining on the tree until late winter.
In nature, mountain ash is found in forests and mountainous areas of the northern and middle parts northern hemisphere. Fairly easy to care for, most mountain ash trees look great most of the year.

Turn

Thorn is a shrub or small tree 1.5-3 (large species up to 4-8) meters high with numerous thorny branches. The branches grow horizontally and end in a sharp, thick thorn. Young branches are pubescent.
Sloe leaves have an elliptical or obovate shape. Young leaves are pubescent, with age they become dark green, with a matte tint, and leathery. Sloe fruits are mostly round in shape, small (10-15mm in diameter), black of blue color with a waxy coating.

Feijoa

Until now, not every resident of our country knows what feijoa looks like. Some of these exotic berries are mistaken for a small cucumber, while others are mistaken for an avocado. The taste of feijoa is also uncertain - either strawberry or pineapple. It seems that it is generally difficult to say anything for sure about this berry. It is believed that feijoa contains a huge amount of deficient iodine, but the opinion about the high concentration of this element is disputed. Feijoa is called a “capricious” product due to the inability of the fruit to be stored for more than a week, but this is only partly true. The truth about feijoa is helped to establish research that Lately are being carried out more and more often.

Physalis

Physalis vulgaris (vesicle, dog cherry, marunka) is a perennial plant from the nightshade family, 50-100 cm high. The underground shoots of physalis are creeping, woody, and branching. Its stems are erect. angular-curved. The fruit of physalis is a spherical, juicy, orange or red berry, enclosed in a fiery orange, swollen, vesicular berry. an almost spherical calyx, thanks to which the plant got its name physalis from the Greek word “physo”, which means swollen. The plant blooms in May - August. Physalis fruits ripen in June - September. It grows everywhere in light forests, among bushes, on forest edges, and in ravines.

A perennial shrub belonging to the gooseberry family, it reaches up to 1.5 m in height with drooping yellowish-gray shoots that turn brownish by the end of summer. Black currant leaves are alternate, petiolate, three-, five-lobed, bare above, with golden glands along the veins below, with an aromatic specific odor, up to 12 cm wide. Flowers 7-9 mm long, lilac or pinkish-gray, five-membered, collected by 5-10 in drooping clusters 3-8 cm long. The fruit of black currant is a multi-seeded black or dark purple fragrant round shiny berry with a diameter of 7-10 mm. It blooms in May - June, the fruits ripen in July - August.

Blueberry

A perennial low-growing shrub from the genus Vaccinium of the Ericaceae family, 15-30 cm high.
Stems are erect, branched, smooth. The blueberry rhizome is long and creeping. The leaves are elliptical, smooth, light green, leathery, 10-30 mm long, covered with sparse hairs and serrate-toothed edges. Blooms in May-June. The flowers are greenish-white with a pink tint, solitary. They are located on short stalks in the axils of the upper leaves. Blueberries are juicy, black, with a bluish-gray tinge, and shiny. The pulp is dark red, juicy, soft, with many seeds. Ripens in July-August. Blueberries bear fruit in the second or third year.

Bird cherry

A large deciduous shrub or tree of the Rosaceae family, up to 10 m in height, with a dense elongated crown, with matte, cracking dark gray bark, on which large rusty-brown or white lentils are clearly visible. The inner layer of bird cherry bark is yellow, with a characteristic almond smell. Young branches are light olive, short-haired, later cherry-red, glabrous; The bark is yellow on the inside, with a sharp, characteristic odor. The leaves are alternate, short-petiolate, oblong-elliptic, narrowed at both ends, serrate-toothed along the edge. White, strong-smelling flowers are collected in multi-flowered drooping racemes. It blooms in May, the fruits ripen in July - August. The bird cherry fruit is a black, glossy, spherical, tart-tasting, highly astringent drupe with one seed. The stone is round-ovate, sinuously notched.

Rose hip

Perennial, wild plant family Rosaceae. People call it wild rose. Rosehip is a low bush, 1.5-2.5 m in height, with arc-like hanging branches covered with strong sickle-shaped thorns. Young shoots of rose hips are greenish-red with awl-like spines and bristles. The flowers are pink or white-pink, with five free petals, the corolla is up to 5 cm in diameter. Rose hips bloom in May-June. The fruits are berry-like (up to 20 mm long), red-orange, different shapes, with many hairy achenes, ripen in September-October.

Wild berries are tasty, healthy, and therefore invariably popular even among hardcore city dwellers. Our article will tell you about the benefits of these forest “dwellers,” as well as methods of collection and transportation.

Berries

When going to the forest, don’t forget to take a basket with you - representatives of the forest “berry brotherhood” will share with you the vital force of nature itself. Which berries are worthy of your attention, and which ones should be avoided?

Edible and inedible wild berries

The forest gives us both useful and not at all useful gifts. Our table will allow you to get acquainted with them.

Useful properties of wild berries

How do wild berries differ from their garden counterparts? The answer is simple - wild fruits grow in natural conditions - they absorb natural nutritional elements, practically uncontaminated by civilization. Provided, of course, that there is no industrial facility located near the forest and if you do not pick berries near the road. In the process of growth and development, the gifts of nature are not treated with any chemicals intended to protect against pests and diseases - nature itself solves the problem. It has been noticed that wild berries do not contain radionuclides and heavy metals– these harmful elements can be absorbed by the roots, but do not reach the fruits themselves. Wild berries give us a full spectrum minerals, vitamins and other beneficial elements(these are natural dietary fibers, pectins, bioflavonoids, organic acids, healthy sugars etc.).

Advantages and disadvantages of wild berries

Forest berries have one important advantage over garden berries - they are superior to according to taste, yes and The aroma of “wild” fruits is more pronounced. Unfortunately, wild berries are smaller in size than artificially bred fruits and harvesting takes longer.

Disadvantages include searching for pure environmentally places and difficulty harvest transportation to the processing point - most berries have a delicate consistency, so during delivery home there is a loss of juice and spoilage of the pulp (bacteria in summer period develop rapidly, and crushed fruits are an ideal place for their life).

Procurement of medicinal raw materials

It is no secret that wild berries are a source of not only tasty fruits, but also medicinal raw materials (traditional healers use leaves, roots, bark and flowers berry crops growing in the forest). These raw materials are collected during a strictly defined period of the plant’s life: the roots are dug up in the fall, flowers and leaves are collected in the spring during the flowering period, and the bark is collected during the period of sap flow (in the spring, when the leaves appear). They spend most of their time collecting raw materials in the morning, after the dew has dried.

Collection and transportation of wild berries

It is better to go “hunting” for berries in the morning - during this period the body is full of energy, the berries are full of benefits, and the omnipresent sun does not yet bother you with active ultraviolet radiation (and does not wither the harvest). When going to the forest, you need to take care of protection against mosquitoes and midges. For picking berries, it is better to get spacious baskets lined with paper or cloth. Some berries (for example, cloudberries) are best placed in buckets. To protect especially delicate berries from spoilage, you can lay out each layer of them with leaves (it makes sense to cover the container with them or a clean cloth and on top to protect the harvest from sun rays). During transportation, it is extremely important to secure containers with berries. from sudden shocks. . Some types of berries are tasty when soaked (cranberries, cloudberries).

Wild berries are a concentrate of benefits and taste. Take the time to go into the forest with your whole family, and nature will generously reward you with its gifts.

" Garden

Wild berries are tasty and useful product. Chefs use them to prepare masterpieces, and housewives find use for berries in all areas of life.

You can pick berries throughout the summer, autumn and even winter. The very first to appear are wild strawberries and strawberries. It is better to pick them in early summer, when the berries are ripe and gain flavor. For lingonberries, blueberries, boneberries and blueberries - go to coniferous forests. Berries such as cranberries and cloudberries grow near damp places. Most often in swamps or near streams or rivers. Raspberries and blackberries would be an excellent dessert. However, when going to the forest, you need to pay attention that not all berries are edible. Poisonous berries are life-threatening! The names of the most popular edible berries are given below.

Cowberry

Rich in taste, lingonberries grow in dry areas of pine forests. These are small bushes with bright scarlet berries. Lingonberries should be harvested by the end of summer - in the fall, when the berries have plumped up and become a dark coral color. The fruits contain a lot of sugar, so lingonberries make good jams and preserves.. Not only berries are used, but also leaves. They have disinfectant and other beneficial properties.

A plant with shoots creeping along the ground, only 30 cm high. Drupe fruits are appearance very similar to raspberries, both in shape and color. Each fruit drupe contains one seed. The berry tastes like a ripe pomegranate.. The berry has a wide range of applications. It is often used for drinks and desserts. Tea is made with the leaves. It turns out aromatic, but slightly viscous. Homemade wine is made from the berries and even added to the production of vinegar and shampoos.

These large berries, dark blue in color, can easily be confused with blueberries. You can distinguish them by the size of the bush. The blueberry bush is 30 cm high, while the blueberry grows on a bush reaching a height of 90 cm. The blueberry pulp is a watery structure with a greenish tint. You can pick berries in various types forests Most often, the berry grows in highlands and mountains. When picking blueberries, you need to carefully ensure that wild rosemary foliage does not get into the basket along with the berries. The leaves are poisonous. Causes drowsiness, dizziness and fainting. Blueberry leaves, on the contrary, contain a lot of beneficial properties. Based on them, teas are brewed, infusions are made and used in cooking.

It is not recommended to give blueberries to children under 1.5 years of age, or to use by lactating and pregnant women. Eating berries is dangerous with the risk of developing diathesis.

One of the most useful berries. It has a blue-black color. Blueberries are a strong colorant. After eating a handful, you can still see the colored tongue for a long time. Grows on small bushes in moist and shaded areas. Berry has wide application in medicine. Blueberries contain many beneficial properties that help fight the formation of tumors, scurvy, and improve vision. The berry is good for those losing weight. Substances contained in blueberries contribute to the process of accelerating metabolism. Use better berries fresh, but you can dry or freeze blueberries for the winter.

Due to one-time consumption of berries in large quantities, digestive problems may occur.

A small black berry that resembles a black currant in appearance. You can find it in both shady and sun-warmed areas. Grows on bushes or low trees. Best time for collecting elderberries - late summer - early autumn. At this time, the berries ripen and become most beneficial to humans.

You definitely need to pay attention to the fact that black elderberries contain only beneficial substances, while red ones are poisonous to humans.

Unripe elderberry fruits, foliage and flowers are dangerous. IN medicinal purposes berries are used in dried and processed form. To preserve elderberries for the winter, you need to pay attention to storage conditions. The berry is quite susceptible to temperature and humidity.

Cranberry

Small, creeping shrubs that have an evergreen color. The berries are distributed in all corners of the globe, but the best climatic conditions for wild cranberries are high humidity and low temperature. The fruits have thick skin and a fiery red color. The berry has a specific, sour taste. Typically, cranberry harvesting begins in August, but the fruits can last on the plant until the beginning of spring, while retaining all the beneficial substances, and cranberries contain quite a few of them. It is of great value as a medicinal plant and is used in cooking for preparing drinks and various dishes. It has the ability to be stored for a long time in frozen and dried forms.

Berries are contraindicated for people with intestinal diseases and acid-sensitive tooth enamel.

Advantages and disadvantages

All varieties and types of garden berries were bred on the basis of their forest ancestors. However, berries grown in garden conditions do not receive the same unique set of elements as when growing in the forest. It has long been known that wild berries are tastier and healthier. They are often used in pharmacology and medicine.

The main beneficial properties of wild berries are:

Berries that grow in wild forests– not polluted by civilization. They absorb the beneficial substances provided by nature and the plants around them, without the addition of chemicals or fertilizers.

Wild berries are an environmentally friendly product

Fruit contain large amounts of antioxidants, which remove toxins from the body, help maintain a figure in good shape, slow down aging, and prevent diseases of cardio-vascular system, deterioration in general health, apathy, sleep disturbances.
Berries do not accumulate heavy metals. All harmful substances are retained in the roots, stems, and leaves of plants. Therefore, when collecting leaves, you should pay attention to whether there are industrial enterprises or highways nearby.
Eating wild berries allows you to preserve consumed vitamins for a long time. What is the key to good health in winter.
Many berries are significantly reduce the risk of malignant tumors.
Antiseptic properties of fruits useful for those who suffer from bladder and kidney diseases.
Blueberry contains substances that reduce the likelihood of blood clots in blood vessels and the development of atherosclerosis.
When eating wild berries visual acuity improves. Researchers have proven that when daily use forest natural berries, in a modern lifestyle, good vision lasts up to 55 - 60 years.
Berries such as raspberries are often used as an antipyretic.. When sweat is released, the body cleanses itself of substances accumulated due to improper lifestyle. Raspberries strengthen the immune system, which makes it possible to more effectively fight colds and other viral diseases.

Raspberries are a good antipyretic

Not only berries have medicinal properties, but also foliage, flowers, and sometimes plant roots. Based on them, infusions are made and teas are brewed. Plant parts can be used either fresh or dried.. The leaves have the ability to lower blood sugar.
Eating red berries helps increase hemoglobin in the blood. This is especially useful for older people. Before use, you need to pay attention to contraindications, if any.
Of course, wild berries have a real rich smell and taste. They absorb the aromas of the forest: pine needles, grass and others. Can be used for making desserts, sauces, drinks. Berry treats will be useful for children. They will help strengthen and protect the child’s body from harm.

Wild berries have a small amount of shortcomings, which are lost against the background of the list of advantages. But it’s still worth paying attention to them.

Berries should be consumed in moderation. Fanatical use of berries in all areas of life can lead to health problems:

Disorders of the gastrointestinal tract
The appearance of rashes, redness, and the subsequent development of allergies
The emergence of dental problems: destruction of tooth enamel, development of caries, increased sensitivity.

People with diseases of the pancreas and liver should be careful when consuming berries, since an excess of certain substances can negatively affect the organs.

Wild berries are a storehouse of nutrients and taste qualities. Their moderate use can give long life, reduce the risk of diseases and simply strengthen the body. And of course there will be fragrant forest berries good addition for culinary masterpieces.

Many people enjoy hiking in the forest. They are often accompanied by picking berries. It’s a fascinating activity, but you just need to be careful while doing it, because not everything you can find is edible. And in order to avoid troubles that can manifest themselves in stomach upset or poisoning, it is worth knowing what berries grow in the forest, and which of them is edible.

Red and scarlet

Thanks to their color, they are the easiest to see, so the story should start with them. So, what berries grow in the forest that are red and are also edible?

The first thing to note is rich in carbohydrates, carotene and pectin from lingonberries. This sweet and sour wild berry grows on shrubs - low-growing evergreen perennials. The fruits are shiny, resembling small red balls (up to 0.8 cm in diameter). They ripen in late summer and early autumn.

Drupe is a herbaceous plant with a maximum height of 30 centimeters. Characteristic feature are long shoots spread out on the ground. The berry is a fairly large aggregate drupe of 4 fruits with large seeds inside. Drupes ripen in mid-to-late summer, and their taste is reminiscent of a juicy pomegranate.

Viburnum is a small scarlet drupe berry that grows in “groups” on a leaf tree. It is impossible not to recognize her. It is better to collect viburnum after the first frost. Before them, it does not have a sweet, but a sour-bitter taste.

Orange

What berries grow in the forest and have this pleasant shade? Cloudberries, of course. It grows on herbaceous semi-shrub plants up to 30 cm high. The fruit is a composite drupe, up to 1.5 centimeters in diameter. It could have been confused with raspberries, if not for the soft orange hue and tart-sweet taste. They are collected in July-August.

Rowan fruits are another edible berry in the forest. They grow in bunches (like viburnum) on tall trees sometimes reaching 10 meters in height. The fruits are dense, small, up to 1 cm in diameter. They taste juicy, but are bitter, which is why they are not eaten just like that - they are made into jam, compotes, or poured with honey or sugar.

When talking about what berries grow in the forest, one cannot help but mention sea buckthorn. It is a large bush, rather like a tree, with bright orange fruits that grow very interestingly. Looking at the photo below, you can see that the fruits literally stuck to the branch (in fact, hence the name). So you won’t be able to confuse them with anything else.

Blue shades

Perhaps the most beautiful “berry” color. And not rare. Everyone knows the amazing blueberry. It is blue on the outside, but if you crush it, it will turn purple, and when you remove the skin, you can see that the flesh is green. The berry grows on a branched subshrub, the height of which is usually 30-50 cm (maximum 1 m). It can easily be confused with blueberries (more on that a little later). But lighter stems and a broken receptacle distinguish it. Blueberries also have a sour, sugary taste.

What about blueberries? In fact, it can be distinguished from blueberries not only by the characteristics noted above. Of course, these are similar wild berries. Blueberries are still darker and purple inside. By the way, you can conduct a test right in the forest: stain your hand with berry juice, then try to wash it off. It didn’t work out, did the dark purple tint remain on the skin? So it's blueberries.

Honeysuckle is a wild berry that has a “blueberry” color but an elongated shape. It resembles a bell - even the “bottom” is flat. The taste is unique - it has sweetness, bitterness, and a little sour tint. But the most important thing is that blue honeysuckle contains a complex of minerals and vitamins. It also ripens early - in early June.

Black

In nature, this shade does not exist in its pure manifestation. But there are a lot of things that are close in color. For example, blackberries. The berry grows on semi-shrubs, the stems of which are covered with sharp thorns - so it’s worth taking thick gloves when picking. The fruits are almost black, but are actually dark purple. There is a light coating that is easy to remove. Blackberries are an interesting berry. It first grows to its usual size (up to 2 cm), and then acquires a shade - from green to red, then brown, and then rich dark purple.

Bird cherry and buckthorn are another almost black berries. They are often confused. The berries are small, round, and grow on trees. But bird cherry fruits grow in “groups”, on pink branches. From the outside it seems that the tree is decorated with long dark earrings. But buckthorn grows rarely - 5-7 berries on branches densely covered with leaves. Bird cherry has a pleasant sweetish-astringent taste. Buckthorn is sour-bitter and inodorous. It is used in medicine and added to alcoholic tinctures.

And, of course, we can’t help but mention currants. Large berries grow on shrubs with lobed leaves. Currants are not only black, but also red and white. But the sweetest are the black berries.

Other forest representatives

These are strawberries - many people go to the forest precisely for this sweet berry. It grows in sunny meadows, in the grass. Due to its resemblance to the famous berry, loved by many with cream, it was nicknamed “forest strawberry”.

Many people willingly go to coniferous sphagnum forests for cranberries. Absolutely all its types are edible. The red spherical berries are rich in vitamin C. Its amount is comparable to that found in grapefruit, lemon and orange. Cranberries also contain vitamins K, B, PP and many other substances needed by the body. Perhaps this is the most useful swamp-forest berry.

Crowberry is an interesting delicacy. It grows on low-growing shrubs, the leaves of which are more like pine needles. When viewed from a distance, it may appear to be a juniper. But no - this is a bush with edible berries. They are sour, and there is practically no pulp in them. There's juice inside! Hence the name. Recommended for removing radionuclides from the body and preparing delicious jelly.

What can't you eat?

There are also plenty of poisonous berries. We talked above about blue honeysuckle - and so, there is also a red one, growing on large bushes. Its berries are round and poisonous, like the fruits of the wolf's bast. Only these are even more dangerous. They look like sea buckthorn - only red and round, they also cling to a branch. You can't even touch them - the poison is too strong and can quickly penetrate the skin.

Crow's eye is a berry very similar to blueberries. But he still can’t be confused with her. Because it grows very unusually: one (!) berry on a stem, surrounded by four large leaves. However, in the above photo everything is clear.

And finally - the spiked crow. The currant-like berries are hidden under large, jagged leaves with an unpleasant, bright aroma. You should not touch the crow's berries, as well as the plant itself - its juice can cause ulcers and even blisters to appear on the skin. And getting inside will cause severe vomiting and suffocation (fortunately, passing).

So you should take a close look at what you want to put in the basket. The list of wild berries (both edible and poisonous) is very large, but the most striking representatives in every sense of the word were presented above.