Blackberry (other)

The blackberry is an edible fruit produced by many species in the genus ''Rubus'' in the family Rosaceae, hybrids among these species within the subgenus ''Rubus'', and hybrids between the subgenera ''Rubus'' and ''Idaeobatus''. The taxonomy of blackberries has historically been confused because of hybridization and apomixis so that species have often been grouped together and called species aggregates.

Blackberry fruit production is abundant with annual volumes of per possible, making this plant commercially attractive.

''Rubus armeniacus'' ("Himalayan" blackberry) is considered a noxious weed and invasive species in many regions of the Pacific Northwest of Canada and the United States, where it grows out of control in urban and suburban parks and woodlands.

Description

The blackberry looks similar to its raspberry relatives. What distinguishes the blackberry is the connection between the berry and the torus ( receptacle or stem). When a raspberry is picked, the torus remains on the vine. This is why there is a hollow core in the raspberry fruit. When a blackberry is picked, the torus stays with the fruit.

The term ''bramble'', a word referring to any impenetrable thicket, has in some circles traditionally been applied specifically to the blackberry or its products, though in the United States it applies to all members of the genus ''Rubus''. In the western US, the term ''caneberry'' is used to refer to blackberries and raspberries as a group rather than the term bramble. '' Briar'' or ''brier'' may be used to refer to the dense vines of the plant, though this name is used for other thorny thickets (such as ''Smilax'') as well.

The usually black fruit is not a berry in the botanical sense, as it is termed botanically as an aggregate fruit, composed of small drupelets. It is a widespread and well-known group of over 375 species, many of which are closely related apomictic microspecies native throughout Europe, northwestern Africa, temperate western and central Asia and North and South America.

Plants

Blackberries are perennial plants bearing biennial stems (called ''canes'') from their roots.

In its first year, a new stem, the ''primocane'', reaches a full length of about trailing on the ground and bearing large palmate compound leaves with 5–7 new leaves; it does not produce any flowers. In its second year, the cane is a ''floricane'' with a non-growing stem. The lateral buds open to produce flowering laterals. First- and second-year shoots produce short-curved, sharp thorns. Thornless cultivars have been developed during the early 21st century.

Unmanaged plants tend to aggregate in a dense tangle of stems and branches, which can be controlled in gardens or farms using trellises. Blackberry shrubs can tolerate poor soils, spreading readily in wasteland, ditches, and roadsides.

The flowers bloom in late spring and early summer on the tips of branches. Each flower is about in diameter, with five white-pink petals. The fruit only develops around ovules fertilized by the male gamete from a pollen grain. The most likely cause of undeveloped ovules is inadequate pollinator visits. Infection with raspberry bushy dwarf virus sometimes causes no visible symptoms and sometimes causes incomplete drupelet development and crumbly fruit.

Genetics

The loci controlling the primocane fruiting was mapped in the F Locus, on LG7, whereas thorns/thornlessness was mapped on LG4. Better understanding of the genetics is useful for genetic screening of cross-breds, and for genetic engineering purposes.

Ecology

Blackberry leaves are food for certain caterpillars; some grazing mammals, especially deer, are also very fond of the leaves. Caterpillars of the concealer moth '' Alabonia geoffrella'' have been found feeding inside dead blackberry shoots. When mature, the berries are eaten and their seeds dispersed by mammals, such as the red fox, American black bear, and the Eurasian badger, as well as by small birds.

Blackberries grow wild throughout most of Europe. They are an important element in the ecology of many countries, and harvesting the berries is a common pastime. However, their vigorous growth and tendency to grow unchecked if not managed correctly mean that the plants are also considered a weed, sending down roots from branches that touch the ground, and sending up suckers from the roots. In some parts of the world, such as in Australia, Chile, New Zealand, and the Pacific Northwest of North America, some blackberry species, particularly ''Rubus armeniacus'' (Himalayan blackberry) and '' Rubus laciniatus'' (evergreen blackberry), are naturalized and considered an invasive species and a noxious weed.

Blackberry fruits are red when unripe, leading to an old expression that "blackberries are red when they're green".

Cultivation

Worldwide, Mexico is the leading producer of blackberries, with nearly the entire crop being produced for export into the off-season fresh markets in North America and Europe. Until 2018, the Mexican market was almost entirely based on the cultivar 'Tupy' (often spelled 'Tupi', but the EMBRAPA program in Brazil from which it was released prefers the 'Tupy' spelling), but Tupy fell out of favor in some Mexican growing regions. In the US, Oregon is the leading commercial blackberry producer, producing on in 2017.

Numerous cultivars have been selected for commercial and amateur cultivation in Europe and the United States. Since the many species form hybrids easily, there are numerous cultivars with more than one species in their ancestry.

History

Modern hybridization and cultivar development took place mostly in the US. In 1880, a hybrid blackberry-raspberry named the loganberry was developed in Santa Cruz, California, by an American judge and horticulturalist, James Harvey Logan. One of the first thornless varieties was developed in 1921, but the berries lost much of their flavor. Common thornless cultivars developed from the 1990s to the early 21st century by the US Department of Agriculture enabled efficient machine-harvesting, higher yields, larger and firmer fruit, and improved flavor, including the ''Triple Crown'', ''Black Diamond'', ''Black Pearl'', and ''Nightfall'', a marionberry.

Hybrids

'Marion' (marketed as "marionberry") is an important cultivar that was selected from seedlings from a cross between 'Chehalem' and 'Olallie' (commonly called "Olallieberry

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases