Arctic plants Options

[BJ]

Hi Charla,
I enjoyed your posting about the Arctic plants. Are the blueberries there similar to what we see in stores here or are they smaller? Also, I know that lingonberries are used a lot in Scandinavia where I suppose they're prolific, do you know if the arctic ones are similar? The reindeer lichen had a cool shape! What sort of texture are they, and are they edible by humans?
thanks, BJ

[Charla_Jordan]

Hi BJ,

Thanks for the great questions! The blueberries and lingonberries are not like ours--they are much small and really do not have much of a taste to them or they are sour. The berries are only the size of a pencil eraser at their biggest.

The reindeer lichen have a very rubbery feel to them, but become brittle if they dry out. I do not know if they are edible, but I can tell you that no one was eating them at Toolik!

Thanks for the question,
Charla