BUNCHBERRIES ARE RIPE, BUT THEY'RE FOR THE BIRDS!

BUNCHBERRY, AKA DWARF CORNEL, BLOOMS MID-JUNE

A LOW, COLORFUL GROUNDCOVER PLANT IN MIXED WOODLANDS...

OPPOSITE, ENTIRE LEAVES AND BUNCHES OF BRIGHT RED BERRIES...

...THAT ARE EDIBLE BUT NOT WORTH THE EFFORT

Sunday, 12:30 PM.  75 degrees F on both thermometers.  Wind SSW, calm with light gusts.  The sky is clear, the humidity 57 percent, the barometer 30.04" and falling, predicting thunderstorms by Thursday.

   Bunchberry, AKA dwarf cornel, Cornus canadensis, in the Dogwood Family (Cornaceae) is bearing bunches of ripe,  bright red fruit. It makes a very attractive northern woodland groundcover in moist, shaded, somewhat acid conditions.
  It is very attractive both in flower and fruit, and flowers, leaves and fruit are almost exact miniatures of the flowering dogwood of the eastern and southern United States.

   Dogwood berries are edible, indeed some dogwood species, notably cornelian cherry, Cornus mas, are actually grown for their fruit, but bunchberries are too small and bland, and have too large a seed, to bother with.  I ate some of these, and they had almost no taste at all. 

   Leave them for the birds!