The Cool Down
Hiker shares surprising method to deal with harmful pest spreading through loca…
One TikTok user explains how she feels about encountering invasive wineberries while foraging.
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Eat Your Way to a Healthier Ecosystem: The Invasive Wineberry and How Foraging Helps
A local nature enthusiast is encouraging residents to help combat invasive species by foraging for wineberries, an edible plant commonly found in areas like New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The plant, scientifically known as Rubus phoenicolasius, is considered invasive because it hinders local biodiversity.The enthusiast, known as 'ecologenius' online, demonstrated in a recent video how consuming these berries can prevent their further spread. 'Whenever you eat the berries, you are helping out the ecosystem by preventing the spread,' she explained, noting that otherwise, birds would consume the berries and disperse the seeds, leading to wider proliferation.Wineberries are identifiable by their distinctive hairy, bristly, wine-colored stems. While the berries are edible, the enthusiast advised caution: 'Disclaimer: don't eat anything from nature without a 100% certain identification!' This initiative offers a unique, hands-on approach to environmental conservation, turning a potential ecological problem into an opportunity for sustainable foraging.
