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HARDWOOD FOREST Fruits as Big as Damsons The hawthorn does not ripen until the fall, when its fruit - "as big as damson" said a surprised Jacques Cartier in 1535 -, is ready to be gathered and eaten. Like the cherry, plum, cranberrybush (pimbina) and serviceberry, the hawthorn has many a story to tell. The Iroquoians were mainly responsible for its propagation. To flourish, the plant needs a large, dry site, which the Iroquoians were able to provide by clearing new fields. The bush has at least four different names in the Mohawk language, depending on the colour, shape and size of its fruit, the haw. Other plants bear edible berries used in cooking, in drinks and as elements in a game of chance. For example, the Iroquoians produced a preparation of cherries and powdered meat, and the Abenaki still today make pimbina jelly. The Micmac used to prepare a drink from plum bark, and the Iroquoians a tea from serviceberry branches. The Huron-Wendat, however, used plum stones to make six dice for one of their games, better known among the Iroquoians as the peach-stone game.

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