Are there more haws on the hawthorn this year than in previous years? Or are they any redder? Every year, there is something that seems to stand out: more apples on the trees, sycamores opening their leaves earlier, fields white all over with lady’s smock. This year, I suspect that the berries on the hawthorns are brighter, redder or more crowded.
Berries are the fruit on many trees, red, black or white, some round and others oval, some soft and tasty, while others are sour and have a hard stone inside. In late autumn and through the winter, these berries are very important food for birds and other animals who will also find the trees and hedges they grow on a good shelter.
But while berries are an essential part of many birds’ diet, some are poisonous for us people! The forager has to know which berries make good jam or jelly, which ones are beneficial to our health, and which ones it is best to avoid altogether.
In Welsh, we have special names for those berries that are the most delicious. We like the red berries in summer and the black ones in the autumn. This is how we have mafon a mefus (raspberries a strawberries), and mwyar duon ac ysgaw for blackberries ac elderberries. And what better description for the sour sloes than eirin tagu, choking plums?
Do you know any other names for berries? You will find some of the berry-bearing trees found growing in hedges on this leaflet from the OPAL project. Our Gwreiddiau Gwyllt project is keen to hear of any other identification resources in Welsh; do get in touch if you know of any!