Spotting edible berries (Survival stuff)

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monsterdog

Joined
Oct 27, 2008
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Found this link, I liked the rule of thumb for finding edible berries in it.

http://lifehacker.com/5334055/get-to-know-your-edible-berries-with-a-simple-mnemonic

"White and yellow, kill a fellow.
Purple and blue, good for you.
Red... could be good, could be dead.

If [red berries are] growing in little clusters, they're probably not good. If they're growing in little singletons, they probably are good."

Any opinion on how true this is?
 
I'm sure there are some exceptions to that rule. But I think for the most part that makes sense. I'm trying to think of red singleton berries seems that the ones I know are all edible. White and yellow berries I don't know any. Blue and Purple from the few I know seem all edible. That's a good mnemonic device.
 
Don't know enough to verify the above. But something I have heard and so far in my experience has been true is that all segmented berries (berries that are made up of little sections like raspberries and blackberries) are edible.
 
Generally it's true, but the rule of thumb with plants is unless you are absolutely sure 100% what it is, do not eat it. Especially berries.
 
PayetteRucker said:
Generally it's true, but the rule of thumb with plants is unless you are absolutely sure 100% what it is, do not eat it. Especially berries.
Click to expand...

Pretty much this. Works for fungi too. The vast majority of animals are safe to eat (after they're dead). Plants and fungi will kill you if you screw up.
 
Pokeweed, and nightshade come to mind as purple berries...although the nightshade tends to be such a dark purple as to appear almost black. So that shoots down the purples as safe ;-p
 
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