berry · The Trophy Room
Salmonberry (Red)
The deep-red form of the salmonberry, glowing ruby against the green of a wet coastal thicket. Same species, same early season as its golden twin — the reds tend a touch sweeter when fully ripe, and the two colors side by side on one cane are one of the small pleasures of a PNW spring.
Identifying
- a raspberry-shaped berry in deep ruby red, soft and full of juice
- comes off the cane hollow, leaving the white core behind
- shares the tangle with the yellow form — pick both off the same thicket
- early magenta flowers, three-part leaves, lightly prickled canes near water
Facts
- the color range on a single patch (gold to red) is normal variation, not two species
- ripe on the earliest end of the berry calendar, weeks before blackberries
- soft and quick to spoil, so it's a trailside eat, not a market fruit
