Note 70 — Emmanuel Altham to Sir Edward Altham

“Alcerme” in the manuscript. Both Altham and Capt. John Smith believed that alkermes berries existed in North America. Perhaps they thought cranberries were the same things. Actually, alkermes berries are insects (species coccus ilicis) which live in the bark of the kerm oak, a tree found around the Mediterranean Sea. The pregnant females have a bright red color, and juice squeezed from them was used as a dye and a cordial, especially in times when they were still thought to be a vegetable.