Wild Blackberry Identification
Wild blackberries are one of the easiest wild harvest plants to identify. They usually grow in open fields, along fences or in the edges of forested areas. They are frequently one of the plants to grow up in areas where a fire has taken out trees and other vegetation.
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Leaf and Stem Shape
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Blackberry leaves have sharp hooks on their undersides. The common blackberry, Rubus fruticosus, grows on upright canes that are covered with thorny stickers. It has a small leaf, approximately 1 inch in length, that is spear-shaped. On the underside of the leaf are small, hooked barbs.
Blossom
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Blackberries bloom in late spring or early summer. They have a white blossom with a yellow center, not unlike that of a wild rose or a multiflora rose. They have a sweet scent and are much loved by bees and humming birds.
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The Berry
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Blackberries are an aggregate fruit. The berry is an aggregate fruit made up of multiple drupelets. Or to put it another way, it is not a true fruit at all; it is a tiny core with multiple little fruits growing all over it. The earliest stage of the berry is a greenish white. As it ripens, it will turn red, then finally a deep purple-black.
Lookalike Plants
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Plants that resemble the blackberry include dewberries, which grow on a runner rather than on a cane; raspberries, which grow on canes, but when picked the drupelets pull away from the core; and boysenberries, which look very much like blackberries but are larger.
Picking Blackberries
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Blackberries ripen in midsummer. If untended, the canes form dense thickets of thorny brambles. Birds, deer, and other wildlife congregate in the relative safety of this thorny fortress that comes equipped with lush fruit. To harvest blackberries, wear long sleeves, tough trousers, shoes and a hat.
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References
- Photo Credit ripening blackberries image by longtall_chris from Fotolia.com blackberry image by Svetlana Nikonova from Fotolia.com blackberry image by dinostock from Fotolia.com
