North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["victoria l. caron" <vicaron@gis.net>]

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Perhaps I should also have mentioned that black raspberries are not hardy here
and there are no wild varieties of them either. I am making a note of this to
dispel any notions that the rounder blackberries that we have growing wild 
here,
and which do pick hollow, could be raspberries or crosses of them. Where I 
grew
up, in Zone 5, black raspberries did grow everywhere and were my favorite 
berry.
If there was a way to have them here is zone 3, I
would........................vic

"victoria l. caron" wrote:

>
> To me the plants sound like a type of blackberry. Nothing you describe
> suggests that it could not be. We are still picking blackberries here in
> northern NH where they grow wild in deforested areas. They are so abundant
> in this region that I have never heard of anyone growing a cultivated
> variety. Although similar in many ways, there can be obvious differences in
> wild blackberries. Form of berries can vary from small to large cap or round
> shaped, small to large elongated and combinations of both with also varying
> widths. My daughter and I are partial to the rounder or cap shaped ones
> which tend to grow on canes that are green and weak when compared to the
> heavy purple canes that tend to produce the more elongated berries. These
> rounder berries tend to have larger cells which means less seeds per unit of
> measure, they also tend to be better flavored. I have found that many types
> of blackberries will pick hollow, especially when well ripened. Over the
> years we have been picking in three 'clear cuts' and have our favorite
> patches, some of which are very small and others that are consistent for
> acres. My daughter Charlene found an amber colored variety back in '92 which
> is the only one I grow in our garden.
>
> edforest55@hotmail.com wrote:
>
> >
> > Can anyone help this fella, he wants to identify a plant he has. The
> > fruit seems to have characteristics of both:
> >
> > Blackberry or Raspberry?
> >
> > There are wild plants growing in my garden, and I'm not sure if they
> > are blackberries or black raspberries.  From the information that I
> > gathered, blackberries have wide, sturdy, and flared thorns on the
> > canes, while raspberries have little prickly thorns all over the
> > canes.  The thorns on my canes are wide, sturdy, and flared.
> >
> > However, I was also told that raspberries have cap-like fruit, and
> > when picked, the stems stay on the plant, while with blackberries,
> > the stems often come off during the harvest.  My berries are not very
> > cap-like, but their stems do stay on the plant, and the top part of
> > the fruit is hollow.
> >
> > Now for more of a description of the plants themselves; the deep
> > green leaves grow in sets of five, with 4 leaves coming almost
> > directly off the red cane (thus having very little stems).  These
> > leaves grow at a 45 degree angle to the direction of the stem,
> > pointing in 4 opposite directions.  The fifth leaf has a more
> > pronounced stem, so it sticks out from the cane, and grows parallel
> > to the cane. It is also usually the largest leaf in the cluster.
> > They grow to be about 5 or 6 feet long, arching over themselves after
> > reaching about 3 feet.
> >
> > It is September 21, and the plants are still fruiting in Northeastern
> > PA (zone 5), although nowhere near as heavily as they were two months
> > ago.  The flowers are white, with yellow centers, in late May, June,
> > July, and even some in early August (bees love them).  Then berries
> > are green, which matures into red, which darkens until they are a
> > deep shiny black.  There are still red berries on the canes now.
> > Ripe and especially over-ripe berries leave a purple stain on
> > anything they touch.  The seeds are very numerous, and are also
> > hard.  The berries normally are 3/4 of an inch to an inch in length,
> > and are about 3/4 of an inch thick at the thickest part, which is
> > just slightly below the stem end of the berry.
> >
> > Any help in identifting this plants would be greatly appreciated.