Talk:Frangula californica

Edibility
The berries are not edible. I just spent the afternoon vomiting repeatedly after consuming approximately a half-dozen ripe F. californica berries. F. Pacifica 05:25, 3 August 2020 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Fpacifica (talk • contribs)

Historical ethnobotanical knowledge and current wild food literature provides a record for the use of these berries and their seeds as choice foodstuffs by tribes of California (as opposed to the bark and leaves which were used as emetic). The original research of one profileless wikipedia editor whose plant identification skills and ethnobotanical background are unknowable does not convincingly fly in the face of these secondary sources. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 199.16.255.253 (talk) 21:49, 13 February 2023 (UTC)

Regardless of "historical ethnobotanical knowlege" the berries - which I'm 100% sure are Frangula californica - caused me to vomit and, as someone who has foraged for many years, I would consider it irresponsible to claim that these berries are "edible" or a "choice foodstuff". Perhaps if they are soaked in water that removes toxins. But raw, they are not edible nor choice by any means, and your insinuation that I'm not qualified to make a statement here is insulting. Also, it's a logical fallacy to claim that because an author doesn't have a profile, that what they write is invalid. This is just another, typical, abusive and arrogant comment on Wikipedia. F. Pacifica 22:16, 13 February 2023 (UTC)