RHH's photos with the keyword: salmonberry

This was photographed along the Harding Icefields trail in Kenai Fjords National Park. The flower I recognize as a Salmonberry blossom - it grows here in Washington - and I believe the insect is a Weevil Wasp.

This is another of my wife's photos from Anderson Lake State Park on the Olympic Peninsula. The flower is of the Salmonberry, Rubus spectabilis, a shrub that grows to 4 meters tall and produces orange-red fruit that look like a Raspberry. The fruit was eaten by native Americans and often with salmon, from whence the name.

Another photo from the area of Slide Mountain and from our fossil-hunting excursion. These are the leaves of Rubus spectabilis, the Salmonberry.

Salmonberry is shrub native to the Pacific Northwest which produces edible fruit. The plant blooms in the early spring and produces its fruit throughout the summer at different elevations. The fruits look like large orange-red raspberries and taste like a bland version of that fruit. The berries were an important food source for the native peoples and were often used in producing pemmican, a mix of dried meat and berries. They are supposed to have gotten their name from the fact that they were mixed with the dried meat or roe of salmon. If you are interested there are several postings on my blog that have to do with plants and wildflowers native native to the Pacific Northwest: ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/ .

Twice in recent weeks we've been to Wallace Falls State Park in the North Cascades. The park is on the west side of the mountains, near the town of Goldbar, off State Highway 2. The park is noted for its spectacular waterfalls, a series of nine falls and cascades, the tallest of which is 265 feet. When we hiked there little was blooming except the Salmonberry bushes, and this is one of the flowers. Later in the year there will be large orange-red fruits that look like raspberries and taste like an insipid version of that fruit. They were often gathered by the Indians and used by them to make pemmican, a mixture of meat and fruit pounded together, in this case, the meat of salmon and these berries. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2012/04/wallace-fal...

On our recent excursion to Wallace Falls State Park, nearly the only things in bloom were the Salmonberry bushes. I posted another picture of these blossoms (see below), but the blossoms are more or less pendant and this is how they are usually seen. For more information on the fruit of these plants please see the second photo. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2012/04/wallace-fal...

Taken on the Baker River Trail last spring while hiking there with my brother. We are eating the berries now when we hike along with Thimbleberries, wild Blueberries Mahonia and Salal Berries, though the Salmonberries are already finished at lower elevations. The berries taste and look like orangish, insipid raspberries. As I understand it, they are called Salmon berries because the Indians used to pound them into a paste with the meat of salmon and then dry the mix for trail food. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2012/04/baker-river...

The weather has been beautiful the past week and everything is bursting into growth and bloom. Along Fishtrap Creek here in the town some of the native plants are blooming, including the Salmonberries. The berries, which come later in the summer, look like large orange-red raspberries, and taste like insipid raspberries as well. They were traditionally eaten with salmon and thus their name. They are native to the west coast from California to Alaska but have naturalized in other parts of the world. Their botanical name is Rubus spectabilis and some cultivars are grown as garden plants. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2013/03/spring-walk...

Nearly the only wildflowers we found on our hike to Fragrance Lake were some Salmonberry blossoms near the lake. They are always very beautiful and the berries are always good eating later in the summer. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2013/04/a-wet-walk-...

Taken on the Little Si trail after returning from our hike to the summit of Mount Si. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2013/05/mount-si.html