Cloudberry by Mendel Skulski
Summary
Rubus chamaemorus (cloudberry) may be familiar to Maritime Canadians or Scandinavians, but it is an unusual find in the Pacific North West. This fruit is a cousin to the more familiar dewberry, salmonberry, thimbleberry, and blackcap raspberry (Rubus ursinus, spectabilis, parviflorus, and occidentalis, respectively).
Leading up to our trip to Haida Gwaii in the summer of 2019 (as featured in Kelp Worlds pt. 3), we studied Nancy Turner's Plants of Haida Gwaii. Cloudberry is highlighted as culturally esteemed, and all but decimated by deer grazing.
How excited we were, then, to find them in great numbers – standing singly amidst the sphagnum of an exquisite bog. What do they taste like? Listen and find out.
Pay what you can – as little as a $1 per month – to get this silly bonus recording, and our whole back catalogue of bonus mini-episodes.
We are endlessly indebted to Kieran Wake for making this entire trip possible, lining up some incredible interviews, and delivering us to these delightful drupelets.