The Blackberry (Rubus fruticosus)
Blackberries grow on brambles and are typically found in woodland, hedgerows and shrubby or waste ground. They grow all over the British Isles and Europe.
They are plants that typically send up biennial canes from perennial roots. A new stem in its first year is long and arching, growing vigorously to 3-5m or more. In its second year, the stem doesn't grow anymore and buds break to produce flowering laterals and, eventually, fruit. As I'm sure we all know from bitter experience, the stems are covered in short, very sharp prickles.
Mature plants form a tangle of dense arching stems and the branches root readily from the node tip when it reaches the ground. Brambles spread mainly through this method rather than seeds, a process know as apomixes or asexual reproduction. Because apomitic plants are genetically identical from one generation to the next, they preserve small differences between different lineages and so in brambles there can be hundreds of microspecies.
When ripe, the fruit is black. It is not a berry in the botanical sense but an aggregate fruit composed of lots of small druplets. The tastiest berries are those that grow in direct sunlight, which is perhaps why we have found the blackberries in the Pinetum, where there is often quite a lot of shade, to be a little disappointing.
When picking blackberries, consider gloves and mind the juice which stains. Pick only the fully black blackberries because the red or purple ones don't ripen further once picked. Pick berries above knee height which won't have been splashed by rain hitting the ground or been urinated on by dogs or other animals.
In folklore, you shouldn't pick blackberries after Old Michaelmas Day, 10th October. This was the day in the Christian calendar when the Devil was thrown out of heaven. He landed in a bramble bush which he cursed and spat upon. There might be some sense in folklore because blackberries contain bitter tannins that accumulate in the fruit over time. The 10th October is late in the blackberry picking season, so berries picked around this time are very bitter. Also, as wetter autumn weather arrives, the fruit will contain more fungus spores that won't improve the taste.
Philip Hall
They are plants that typically send up biennial canes from perennial roots. A new stem in its first year is long and arching, growing vigorously to 3-5m or more. In its second year, the stem doesn't grow anymore and buds break to produce flowering laterals and, eventually, fruit. As I'm sure we all know from bitter experience, the stems are covered in short, very sharp prickles.
Mature plants form a tangle of dense arching stems and the branches root readily from the node tip when it reaches the ground. Brambles spread mainly through this method rather than seeds, a process know as apomixes or asexual reproduction. Because apomitic plants are genetically identical from one generation to the next, they preserve small differences between different lineages and so in brambles there can be hundreds of microspecies.
When ripe, the fruit is black. It is not a berry in the botanical sense but an aggregate fruit composed of lots of small druplets. The tastiest berries are those that grow in direct sunlight, which is perhaps why we have found the blackberries in the Pinetum, where there is often quite a lot of shade, to be a little disappointing.
When picking blackberries, consider gloves and mind the juice which stains. Pick only the fully black blackberries because the red or purple ones don't ripen further once picked. Pick berries above knee height which won't have been splashed by rain hitting the ground or been urinated on by dogs or other animals.
In folklore, you shouldn't pick blackberries after Old Michaelmas Day, 10th October. This was the day in the Christian calendar when the Devil was thrown out of heaven. He landed in a bramble bush which he cursed and spat upon. There might be some sense in folklore because blackberries contain bitter tannins that accumulate in the fruit over time. The 10th October is late in the blackberry picking season, so berries picked around this time are very bitter. Also, as wetter autumn weather arrives, the fruit will contain more fungus spores that won't improve the taste.
Philip Hall