The Tall Oregon Grape is a shrub 3’ to 6’ in height. It is the State Flower of Oregon, also known as Mahonia aquifolium Its leaves are leathery and glossy green with spiny leaflets that resemble a holly’s. The most ubiquitous is the Low Oregon Grape with blue berries usually found under the cover of trees. This writer, as a boy, was sent into the woods to gather their berries, along with those of the Salal. White flour bags were suspended from a porch rafter holding a crushed mix of the 2 fruits (slightly sour and sickeningly sweet, respectively) with a bucket below to catch the strained liquid. This juice was made into a unique jelly enjoyed by the Pioneers and Native Americans for 100 or 10,000 years before. Make some jelly, you will remember it for a lifetime. Member of the Berberidaceae Family, these 3 species are found by Kiosk 7. Pilchuck Learning Center’s sponsored Western Washington State University SAM Project extinction possibility for all 3 species is slight.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35069611/
http://naeb.brit.org/uses/search/?string=mahonia
https://plants.usda.gov/home/plantProfile?symbol=MAAQ2
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahonia_aquifolium
https://thewholeu.uw.edu/2020/07/08/summer-berry-guide/
https://www.boskydellnatives.com/salal-oregongrapejelly.htm
https://www.plc215.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Kiosk-07.pdf
https://extension.oregonstate.edu/sites/default/files/documents/9806/sp50536wildberriesandfruits.pdf
A still popular jam is made from Oregon Grape berries and the berries of the:
grace many rural tables today (the former is tart; the latter is sweet).