Sparkleberry Lemonade
Americans don’t know sparkleberry as well as they might because its relatives the wild huckleberry and the blueberry produce berries plumper, more sugary, and more flavorful with anthocyanin. Still, the round berries that grow on this large shrub, when crushed, seeded and added to water mixed with simple syrup, or better yet, carbonated water with simple syrup, produces a beverage loved by country people in the eastern half of the United States. Sparkleblerry lemonade is Gullah Geechee, Florida Cracker, Kentucky bluegrass, and Cajun. Each regional southern culture has its take on this folk beverage.
Where sparkleberry has won attention is as an ornamental for Native-tree yards: its modest size (15 to 25 feet), textured bark, glossy dark elliptical leaves, white bell shaped flowers, and shiny dark berries are eye catching. The bark contains grooves that reveal the red inner bark of the tree. Because the tree is drought tolerant and endures heat well enough to thrive in a USDA 10b climate zone, it has enjoyed support of nurseries and horticulturists who feature Native plants. The aromatic flowers adorn the tree for 16-17 days on the tree, the blue black berries ripen in fall.
The berries are edible raw, but chewier than huckleberries, consequently people tend to process them: they are employed in making jams and pies. And of course sparkleberry lemonade. Every sparkleberry I’ve ever consumed has been in a homemade preparation. It does appear in some country produce stands, although sold in one instance under the name “farkleberry.”
Lots of those plants grow in the sandy, xeric soil of my old homeplace. I have eaten the small, seedy things but did not know people gathered enough to make a beverage. Birds love them.