Rubus fruticosus
L.
European blackberry
(c) abourne, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
(c) hchrish200, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
(c) hchrish200, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
What to Eat
Edible parts: Fruit, Leaves, Root
The fruit can be eaten raw or cooked. The best forms produce delicious berries, and with a range of types available, ripe fruit can be harvested from late July through to November. Fruit is also made into syrups, jams, and other preserves. Some people find that eating fruit before it is very ripe and quite soft can cause stomach upsets. The root can be cooked — it should be neither too young nor too old and requires prolonged boiling. A tea can be brewed from the dried leaves, with young leaves being best; the leaves are often included in herbal tea blends. Young shoots can be eaten raw — harvested as they emerge through the ground in spring, peeled, and added to salads.
Dangerous Lookalikes
This plant can be confused with the following toxic species. Always verify identification carefully before consuming any wild plant.
Red Baneberry: Short herbaceous plant (no thorns), berries on thick red stems, each berry has a single seed, compound sharply-toothed leaves.
European blackberry: Thorny woody canes (brambles), aggregate berry made of many drupelets, berries pull easily from receptacle.
Where to Find It
It is a temperate plant. It suits high rainfall areas. In Hobart Botanical gardens. It suits hardiness zones 4-7. Tasmania Herbarium.
Africa, Asia, Australia, Austria, Balkans, Bosnia, Britain, Caucasus, Croatia, Ecuador, Eswatini, Europe, Georgia, Greece, Himalayas, Hungary, India, Italy, Korea, Kosovo, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Mediterranean, Norfolk Island, NW India, Pakistan, Romania, South Africa, Southern Africa, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Tasmania, Ukraine, USA,
How to Identify
A sprawling shrub. It keeps growing from year to year. It grows 0.9-1.8 m high and spreads 3-8 m wide. It spreads by long woody canes. These are armed with hooked prickles. Some plants can be thornless. The leaves are made up of 3-5 leaflets. These are oval or rounded. They have teeth along the edge. The upper surface is green and the lower surface is lighter and greyish. The leaf stalks are short and spiny. The flowers are white or pale pink. They occur in clusters. The fruit is made up of small fruitlets on a pithy core. They are in clusters at the ends of branches.
Nutrition Score: 37/100
| Part | Moisture | kJ | kcal | Protein | Vit A | Vit C | Iron | Zinc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| spp - fruit | 85.6 | 218 | 52 | 0.7 | 16 | 210 | 0.6 | 0.3 |
How to Grow
Easily grown in a good well-drained loamy soil. Succeeds in acid and calcareous soils. Tolerates poor soils. Established plants are drought resistant. Succeeds in sun or semi-shade, though it fruits less well in the shade. Plants will also fruit when grown in fairly deep shade or against a north facing wall, though the fruit will ripen later. Plants tolerate quite severe exposure. Hardy to at least -18°c. R. fruticosus is an aggregate species made up of several hundred slightly differing species. The reason for this is that most seed is produced by a non-sexual method (Apomixis) and is therefore genetically identical to the parent plant. On occasions when sexual production of seed takes place the offspring will all be slightly different from the parent plant and will then usually reproduce as a new species by means of apomixy. Modern treatment of this aggregate usually does not use the name R. fruticosus because of the confusion over which species it should apply to, the type species of the aggregate should be called R. ulmifolius. The following members of the aggregate have been highly recommended for their fruit. R. badius. R. cyclophorus. R. gratus. R. nemoralis. R. oxyanchus. R. pyramidalis. R. separinus. R. winteri. The following members are said to be nearly as good. R. balfourianus. R. broensis. R. carpinifolius. R. foliosus. R. fuscoviridis. R. infestus. R. insericatus newbouldianus. R. koehleri. R. largificus. R. londinensis. R. ludensis. R. macrophyllus. R. obscurus. R. pseudo-bifrons. R. rhombifolius. R. riddelsdellii. R. scaber. R. thyrsiflorus. R. vallisparsus. R. vestitus. Plants form dense thickets and this makes excellent cover for birds. They regenerate freely after being cut back. This species is also a good plant for bees and butterflies. This species has biennial stems, it produces a number of new stems each year from the perennial rootstock, these stems fruit in their second year and then die. Plants in this genus are notably susceptible to honey fungus. Many Rubus species are self-fertile, meaning that a single plant can produce fruit on its own. However, some varieties may benefit from cross-pollination to increase yield.
Propagation: Seed requires stratification and is best sown in early autumn in a cold frame. Stored seed needs one month stratification at about 3°c and should be sown as early in the year as possible. Prick out seedlings when large enough to handle and grow on in a cold frame, then plant out into permanent positions in late spring of the following year. Cuttings of half-ripe wood can be taken in July/August in a frame. Tip layering in July, planting out in autumn. Division can be done in early spring or just before leaf-fall in autumn.
Medicinal Uses
The root-bark and leaves are strongly astringent, depurative, diuretic, tonic, and vulnerary, making them an excellent remedy for dysentery, diarrhoea, haemorrhoids, and cystitis; the root is the more astringent of the two. Externally, they are used as a gargle for sore throats, mouth ulcers, and gum inflammations. A decoction of the leaves is useful as a gargle for treating thrush and also serves as a good general mouthwash.
Other Uses
Rubus species can act as ground cover to help prevent soil erosion, and provide habitat and food for wildlife including birds and beneficial insects; their thorns can also form a natural barrier. A purple to dull blue dye is obtained from the fruit. A fibre obtained from the stem can be used to make twine. Plants spread readily via seed deposited in bird and mammal droppings, often colonising burnt-over, logged, or abandoned land and acting as an excellent pioneer species that creates conditions suitable for woodland trees to establish. Trees will often grow within a clump of blackberries, with the prickly stems providing protection from rabbits. The flowers are rich in nectar and pollen, attracting bees, butterflies, and other pollinators. The abundant berries are a significant food source for birds, mammals, and insects, and the dense thickets provide shelter and nesting sites for small animals and birds. The sprawling growth habit also offers cover for invertebrates, with leaf litter creating ground habitat and stems providing overwintering sites.
Wikipedia
Source ↗Rubus fruticosus L. is the ambiguous name of a European blackberry species in the genus Rubus (part of the rose family). The name has been interpreted in several ways: The species represented by the type specimen of Rubus fruticosus L., which is also the type specimen of the genus Rubus. This specimen is considered to match the species R. plicatus, in Rubus subgenus Rubus, section Rubus. Various species consistent with Carl Linnaeus' original description of the species, which was based on a mixture of specimens now considered to match Rubus ulmifolius and R. plicatus a species aggregate (group of similar species) Rubus fruticosus agg. (a nomen ambiguum) that includes most (or rarely all) of a group called Rubus subgenus Rubus (or less often: Rubus section Rubus [sensu latissimo] ): in a narrow sense, sometimes separated as the section Glandulosus (alternative name: subsection Hiemales) In this sense the species aggregate does not include the type of the genus Rubus. in a broad sense: (1) (i) sections Glandulosus and Rubus [sensu stricto] (in non-British systems, these two sections are classified together as section Rubus [sensu lato], section Glandulosus being called subsection Hiemales and section Rubus [sensu stricto] being called subsection Rubus) or (ii) "most of" these sections; or (2) sections Glandulosus, Rubus [sensu stricto] and Corylifolii. Section Rubus [sensu stricto] are probably hybrids involving members of section Glandulosus with either R. idaeus or R. allegheniensis. Section Corylifolii are probably hybrids involving members of section Glandulosus with R. caesius. even more broadly, including all the taxa in the subgenus Rubus
Notes
There are about 250 Rubus species.
Names & Synonyms
Alish, Ancha, Baganrra, Blackberry, Bramble, Chanch, Garachey, Goracha, Groose, Kapina, Karwara, Karwarha, Kharawari, Mangroos, Mur, Pakana, Rovo, Rusuli maq'vali, Scepe, Spino, Szeder, Thway, Zarzamora
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