I am not a professional botanist; however, I have always had a fascination for botanics. As a biology major of Cal Poly, I took several botany classes with Dr. Kiel and McCloud and I credit them for my interest of botany. From my experience as a naturalist at Camp KEEP in Montana de Oro in the mid 1970’s, I discovered a way to enhance children’s curiosity in botany. I determined that I needed to share with them more than the names of the plants, and provide more facts on how our Native Americans and pioneers discovered medical and edible uses of our local flora. I strongly feel that in order to protect our local plant communities from development and other degredations, we need to educate the youth so that they recognize our natives and become more personal with them.
So, I decided to do some research and present a series of blogs that will describe the ethnobotany (the study of a region’s plants and their practical uses through the traditional knowledge of a local culture and people). {1}
Do not ingest any of our native plants without further consultation with a professional ethnobotanist. There have been several cases where on has mistaken one plant for another and had severe nausea and some plants can also cause a fatal reaction. It is best to just observe our native plants and understand what an integral part they were for the native Americans and pioneers medicine chest or food cache.
My first choice is Coffeeberry (Frangula californica) which is a member of the Buckthorn family and is a large perennial shrub that can grow in many types of habitat, including Chaparral, California oak woodlands and coastal sage scrub. Although, it does prefer north facing slopes. The glossy leaves look similar to the Toyon, but the Toyon’s leaves are serrated and not as glossy. The flowers are greenish and very small and bloom in the spring and attract many pollinating insects. The fruits start developing in the summer, start out green, and redden as they ripen up in late summer and early fall. The fruits turn dark purple when they are ripe.
It received its common name as coffeeberry because the pioneers made an unsuccessful attempt to make coffee form the dark purple berries. The seeds of the coffeeberry are reminiscent of coffee beans, but are very bitter.
The Native Americans discovered a medicinal use for coffee berry and discovered that the bark when chewed on, provided a relief to the constipation that they experienced when they ate too much acorn flour. Apparently, some of the local wildlife (ex. Coyote and racoon) have discovered that it flushes out their system too, as one can commonly find scat by a coffeeberry that has the seeds present.
So next time you are on the trail, keep an eye out for this glossy leaved shrub and remember that this plant is not only beneficial for pollinating insects, but has several medicinal qualities associated with the leaves, bark and berries .
- Han F. Vermeulen (2015). Before Boas: The Genesis of Ethnography and Ethnology in the German Enlightenment Critical Studies in the History of Anthropology Series. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 9780803277380.
University of Michigan, Dearborn − Native American Ethnobotany: Frangula californica . accessed 4.4.2015