At this time, it is common to find wild blackberries on the roads. Before picking them, we must make sure that they are really blackberries, since they can be confused with some toxic fruits.
At the end of summer and early autumn is when the tasty wild blackberries ripen and many people entertain themselves by harvesting them to eat them instantly or to make tasty jellies or jams with them.
When we go with small children through the countryside, it is easy for them to feel the temptation to grab those shiny black fruits, so showy, and end up eating them. But they must be made to appreciate the differences. Not all the fruits or black berries we come across are blackberries. Although the risk is quite limited, it is advisable to distinguish the fruits well.
At the end of summer and early autumn is when the tasty wild blackberries ripen and many people entertain themselves by harvesting them to eat them instantly or to make tasty jellies or jams with them.
When we go with small children through the countryside, it is easy for them to feel the temptation to grab those shiny black fruits, so showy, and end up eating them. But they must be made to appreciate the differences. Not all the fruits or black berries we come across are blackberries. Although the risk is quite limited, it is advisable to distinguish the fruits well.
It is the drunken Cori aria myrtifolia, whose name says it all. Like the blackberry, more than a fruit, it is a set of bright black fruits (red before ripening) that grow at the end and axils of the branches.
HOW TO DIFFERENTIATE IT FROM BLACKBERRY:
- As in the blackberry, more than a fruit, it is a set of bright black fruits -red when immature-, about 4 mm, which grow at the end and the axils of the branches.
- They differ from the blackberry by not having more than five or six frutillos and together they are not entirely spherical, but irregular. The frutillos are also not spherical, but crescents, and form small crowns.
- But above all you will differentiate it from brambles by its leaves, which are bright green, sharp, of hard consistency, ovato-lanceolate shape, with very marked nerves. The brambles have rough touch leaves, green on the beam and whitish on the underside, and their branches, as we have often experienced walking through the forest, are armed with sharp thorns, which does not happen in the coriaria.
What if you eat Coriaria myrtifolia
Poisoning with drunkenness could cause dizziness, dry mouth, abdominal pain and diarrhea, and if the dose has been unfortunately high, loss of consciousness, seizures and respiratory arrest can occur. It is therefore essential to remove the children from these fruits or to alert them to danger.
It is the drunken Coriaria myrtifolia, whose name says it all. Like the blackberry, more than a fruit, it is a set of bright black fruits (red before ripening) that grow at the end and axils of the branches.
HOW TO DIFFERENTIATE IT FROM BLACKBERRY:
- As in the blackberry, more than a fruit, it is a set of bright black fruits -red when immature-, about 4 mm, which grow at the end and the axils of the branches.
- They differ from the blackberry by not having more than five or six frutillos and together they are not entirely spherical, but irregular. The frutillos are also not spherical, but crescents, and form small crowns.
- But above all you will differentiate it from brambles by its leaves, which are bright green, sharp, of hard consistency, ovato-lanceolate shape, with very marked nerves. The brambles have rough touch leaves, green on the beam and whitish on the underside, and their branches, as we have often experienced walking through the forest, are armed with sharp thorns, which does not happen in the coriaria.
What if you eat Cori aria myrtifolia
Poisoning with drunkenness could cause dizziness, dry mouth, abdominal pain and diarrhea, and if the dose has been unfortunately high, loss of consciousness, seizures and respiratory arrest can occur. It is therefore essential to remove the children from these fruits or to alert them to danger.
