DAY 128 (11 AUGUST) – Snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus) (Farnham)
Inevitable I suppose that this diary will be full of berries before we know it. These lychee-like fruits, together with their emerging pink flowers, were overhanging the river Wey.
My husband said he used to stamp on them to make them pop. Their name apparently comes from the fact that when broken open the fruit inside is like fine sparkling granular snow.
They are also winter food for quails, pheasants and grouse – though it’s a bit early to be talking about “winter food”. And that refers, presumably, to grouse that survive the carnage starting tomorrow: ‘the glorious twelfth’.
