Blue-bead Lily Berries

These are the berries of the Blue-bead lily, Clintonia borealis. These berries are supposedly mildly toxic. It likes cool, moist areas of Isle Royale.

The bright blue and the protruding bump at the tip of the berry are distinctive, and help distinguish it from darker blueberries and serviceberries (both edible) and buckthorns (toxic).

The plant is found in northern climes and is generally not available commercially.

Picture near Threemile, Isle Royale, August 2007.