Black twinberry (Lonicera involucrata)

Gitxsan name:  sgan maa'yhl gaak'
Wet'suwet'en name:  sis mï'

Botanical Description

• erect to straggly shrub, 0.5-2 metres tall
• leaves are short-stemmed, somewhat elliptical to broadly lanced shaped, pointed, with hairy undersides
• yellow, tubular flowers found in pairs
• shiny black "twin" berries cupped by two deep purplish maroon bracts

Photo courtesy of Frank Boas (56kB)

Ethnobotanical Use

The black twinberry was also known as "bear berries" or "grizzly berries". Freshly squeezed juice from the berries was used in sore eyes. When the berries were not in season, the inner bark was soaked in water and the milky solution that resulted was used instead. Infusions of the inner bark were used for eye infections. The Wet'suwet'en boiled the leaves and used the liquid to bathe sore eyes, or applied the crushed leaves as a poultice to open sores.

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This digital collection was produced under contract to the SchoolNet Digital Collection Program, Industry Canada.
Revised: 08/21/98