We have all heard of the story of Ber offered by Shabari to Lord Ram. The sweet sour Ber (Indian Plum) is a favourite fruit for many of us.. I remember a vendor selling small red Ber near our school and quite often we did buy a handful for a Rupee – always sold in a paper cone!
What did its tree look like or where did it grow was never thought of!
Over time, I have lost a taste for Ber but its tree has fascinated me.
The hills of Pune are home to many Ber trees. Some of them are the wild variety and not tasty at all but still a good reminder of my childhood.
Ber belongs to the Ziziphus genus and to the Rhamnaceae family. It is a small tree with drooping branches. Some species are shrub-like and armed. The leaves typically are three nerved and have a shiny whitish undersurface. This makes it quite easy to identify a Ber tree.
Here is the Ber I meet very often in my walks!
What is your memory of this humble fruit? Do you like the sweet variety of Ber or the sour ones?
I am joining Parul in her ThursdayTreeLove blog hop. Do head over to see some wonderful trees from around the world. Better still, join in!
Nice to learn about this, as I haven’t heard about it before. Thanks Archana
Thanks Teresa! Happy to share trees from this region 😃
A tree (and fruit) I have never heard of. What a variety of different trees I find in Thursday Tree Love.
Yes indeed! Thanks Alana! 😃
I love the bigger version of this fruit. We call it as “Bore hannu” in local language. Even I have same school experience, it was so nice those days were Archana.
Yes, the bigger variety available in the markets here..I have not seen that tree species yet. Thanks for stopping by Shilpa! 🙏
Ber is the red one? We call ber the one that’s green and yellowish green. But wait I googled too and I see red ones too. Maybe I have never seen a red ber.
As a kid, we have also collected ber from under trees 🙂
Lovely pictures and I hope to see you around tomorrow, Archana!
We get red and green Ber here. Some of the green ones have a very sticky pulp. Everyone has their favourite variety. Thanks Parul for this wonderful bloghop! Yes, I have a new post!! 🙂
I had never heard the story of Ber offered by Shabari to Lord Ram, but I enjoyed learning about the fruit and the pretty little tree.
Thank you so much JoAnna! 😊
The red ones are very popular in the NE where I grew up and in West Bengal. I absolutely love them. We make pickles out of them and chutneys too! I’ve looked for them everywhere but haven’t found them in Bangalore.
One trip to mahabaleshwar will definitely have to be for the red ‘ber’, I tell you!! 😀
I enjoyed eating Ber infact it was free, we could pick up from the ground wash it and eat, later i found it was also sold near the school gate, we used to fond of sweet and sour fruit and green was the kacha one and the red was ripe and sweet to eat. My mouth is watering as i commenting. 🙂