Foraging for juicy blackberries on thorny bushes is a favorite summertime activity for many The sweet-tart flavor of fresh blackberries can’t be beat However, reaching through prickly canes to harvest the dark ripe berries can be tricky. Getting scratched by thorns is part of the experience.
Blackberries grow on a flowering shrub called the blackberry bush. There are over 375 species of blackberry bushes, most belonging to the Rubus genus. Most wild blackberry bushes have thorns that protect the plant from foragers like us. But new cultivars have been bred to remove the thorns, making picking easier.
Why Do Blackberry Bushes Have Thorns?
Wild blackberries grow on canes called brambles. Brambles produce biennial stems that grow the first year and fruit on the floricanes (branches) the next. Thorns develop along the arching canes as a defense mechanism. They help deter animals from feasting on the plant before the flowers can develop into berries.
Birds, deer, rabbits, and other wildlife love munching on juicy blackberries. The thorns discourage animals from snacking early and allow time for the flowers to be pollinated and form berries. They also protect the vines from being damaged. So while the thorns may annoy us, they serve an important purpose in the wild!
Native Blackberry Bushes are Thorny
Native blackberry species that grow uncultivated in the wild are thorny and rough. They belong to the plant classification called the Rubus genus. Plants in this genus produce raspberries, blackberries, dewberries, and other related brambles.
Wild blackberry shrubs produce biennial stems that are thorny and arching. The stems grow the first season and produce flowers and berries on floricanes the next. The thorns naturally develop along the vines as protection.
Common thorny blackberry species include:
- Himalayan blackberry
- Evergreen blackberry
- Pacific blackberry
- Cutleaf blackberry
These native blackberries have intense sweet flavor but picking them does require navigating through prickly thickets. Many small puncture wounds from blackberry thorns are the price for harvesting wild, tasty berries.
New Blackberry Varieties are Thornless
Luckily for berry lovers, horticulturists have bred thornless blackberry bushes. These types of plants make berries that taste sweet like wild blackberries but don’t have the sharp thorns. Types without thorns have been grown in home gardens and on blackberry farms.
Since the cultivated plants don’t need protection from foragers, the thorns aren’t necessary. The thornless varieties also make picking easier and safer. Popular thornless blackberry bushes include:
- Apache
- Navaho
- Ouachita
- Chester
- Triple Crown
- Arapaho
These blackberry hybrids don’t have thorns, so they make a lot of big, sweet berries. Without thorns getting in the way, they are easier to grow and pick.
Thorny Varieties Still Have Advantages
While thornless blackberry plants are ideal for gardens, some think wild thorny varieties have better flavor. Many thorny types also produce higher yields than thornless plants. And some thorny varieties like Cherokee blackberry are more cold-hardy.
So there are still reasons to opt for thorny blackberry plants:
- Enhanced flavor reminiscent of wild blackberries
- Higher yields in some varieties
- Better cold hardiness for certain types
- Nostalgic foraging experience
How to Deal with Thorny Blackberry Bushes
If you want to keep thorny blackberry bushes from taking over your yard, regular pruning is key. Here are some tips:
- Prune first year stems to 24 inches during dormancy
- Remove floricanes after fruiting
- Cut any stems spreading outside desired area
- Wear protective clothing when pruning
- Use loppers, pruners, or pruning saws
Pruning keeps fast-growing blackberry bushes contained. Just be ready to get around the thorns to keep them in check.
Enjoying Blackberries without the Thorns
Blackberry bushes fulfill the purpose of their thorns in the wild by protecting the fruit. For home gardeners, thornless varieties remove that literal barrier to enjoying fresh, ripe berries. With cultivated thornless blackberry plants, you can reap abundant, sweet fruit without painful pokes.
So the next time you come across an overgrown blackberry thicket, think twice about reaching in barehanded for a snack. Instead, grow your own thornless blackberry bush at home. Then you can pick to your heart’s content, thorn-free!
Random ramblings on reading, recreation, running and similar subjects
According to my favorite field guide, Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast, consuming baneberries can kill you. In fact, “As few as 6 berries can induce vomiting, bloody diarrhea and finally paralysis of respiration (179).” “The common name ‘baneberry’ obviously refers to the plant’s severely poisonous nature and comes from the Anglo-Saxon word bana meaning murderous (179).”
Encountering this plant species along Trail 23 in the Anacortes Community Forest Lands (ACFL) this week came as a complete surprise. I showed up in hopes of photographing the dark, leathery-skinned berries of one of the most prolific local shrub species, Salal, and noticed these, bright red, quarter-inch diameter, with an apricot-like indentation.
“Collecting” is not allowed in the ACFL, but what is a curious berry enthusiast to do? I alleviated my cognitive dissonance by deciding that picking a few of these berries would prevent some unsuspecting creature from death by poison.
Fortunately, several other local species are edible including Woodland strawberries, Red huckleberries, Evergreen blackberries, Himalayan blackberries, Trailing blackberries, and finally, salal. With plenty of spare time on my hands during the summer of the Coronavirus, I’ve paid attention to plants and sought answers to burning questions I’ve had about wild berries. Lastly, I wondered whether or not the Gaelic proverb, “Some of the sweetest berries grow among the sharpest thorns” would prove to be true.
During the early to mid seventies, my family, the Rudolfs, lived next door to the Johnsons. Several times a week, we’d show up at their door asking if Sammy and Misti could come out and play. Sometimes, we were granted the opportunity to GO INSIDE their house where we listened to records, played games, and marveled at their twice-the-size-of-ours house and several-times-larger yard. At the Rudolf house, we ate lots of PB&Js for lunch, while at the Johnson’s we were offered tuna sandwiches on buttered white bread cut into quarters…with napkins and silverware adjacent our plates. And every summer, Mrs. Johnson would prepare a pie from the red huckleberries we had picked within the limits of their massive yard. It was epic before epic ever was!.
Red huckleberries (Vaccinium parvifolium) “were used as fish bait in streams…eaten fresh by all coastal aboriginal groups within the range of the plant…either eaten dried singly like raisins, mashed and dried into cakes for winter use, or stored soaked in grease or oil (57).” At Washington State Parks, including Deception Pass State Park, the collection of berries for personal use is allowed in limited quantities. This summer, my sister and I spent a solid hour along the Cornet Bay trails picking 5.5 cups of red huckleberries to prepare a crisp and a cake. Eating these treats brought us back to our childhood. The mosquito stings and pokey shrub spines we endured were a fair trade for the nostalgic feelings eating sweetened baked berries evoked.
Three additional red berry species are common locally, the salmonberry (Rubus specabilis), thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus) and Woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca L. ). The name “salmonberries” comes from the fact that they were often eaten with salmon and are one of the first fruits to ripen (76). Thimbleberries, which are also raspberries, were eaten by everyone on the Northwest Coast (77). ” The absolutely tiny Woodland strawberries (part of the rose family) were “only eaten fresh” by aboriginal people “being too juicy to dry like other berries (183). ” The minute size of the strawberries and the sketchy taste of salmonberries and thimbleberries have prevented me from making the effort to do little more than gingerly swirl an occasional one around in my mouth when I encounter it while hiking.
One of the most common local berry species may be the least understood. Salal (Gaultheria shallon) was “in many places on the Northwest Coast the most plentiful and important fruit for aboriginal peoples. They were eaten both fresh and dried into cakes (53). ” These shrubs can be found everywhere on Whidbey and Fidalgo Islands and the berries, currently (in midsummer), “have been prepared as jam or preserves, and ripe berries from healthy bushes are hard to beat for flavour and juiciness (53). ” Today, (with the encouragement of a friend) I tasted my first salal berry, straight off the shrub, which, barely sweet, was better than expected, but not as good as my favorite: blackberries.
Even though I tried thimbleberries, salal strawberries, and Woodland strawberries this summer, they didn’t change my mind one bit: blackberries are still the best berries in this area. Trailing blackberries (Rubus ursinus) “were widely used by northwest coast peoples as food…eaten immediately or dried for winter storage” and this species “is our only native blackberry (79). ” The Himalayan blackberry (Rubus discolor) is the most common introduced “from India via England” blackberry species (78). Just this week, I observed a second introduced (from Europe) blackberry species for the first time, the Evergreen blackberry (Rubus laciniatus) along Mount Erie Road and near the Clearidge courts in Anacortes. These have conspicuously different flowers, leaves and fruit than the Himalayan (78).
Taste-testing thorny-branched berries during the past few months leads me to conclude that the Gaelic proverb Some of the sweetest berries grow among the sharpest thorns is true; however, there isn’t a straight line relationship between the sharpness of the thorns and the sweetness of the berries. Neither salal berries, strawberries, nor huckleberries have thorns. Thimbleberries have few thorns and aren’t very tasty. Trailing blackberries are sweet and have a few more thorns. Finally, salmonberries are sweet and have a lot of thorns. Himalayan blackberries are, to me, both the sweetest berries and those with the sharpest thorns.
Pojar, Jim, et al. Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast: Washington, Oregon, British Columbia & Alaska. Lone Pine, 2016, (53, 57, 76-79, 179).
Which Blackberry Variety gives the BIGGEST Blackberries?
FAQ
What are the blackberries with thorns?
Yes, many blackberry varieties have thorns. These what look like thorns are actually prickles that are built into the plant to keep it safe from animals and help it climb.
What is a prickly plant with black berries?
Rubus argutus. Rubus argutus is a North American species of prickly bramble in the rose family. It is a perennial plant native to the eastern and south-central United States. Common names are sawtooth blackberry or tall blackberry after its high growth.
Are wild blackberry bush thorns poisonous?
Wild blackberries are safe for humans and not toxic when properly identified. Wear gloves to avoid skin irritation from thorny stems while handling. Consult reliable sources for plant safety before foraging or gardening.
Are there any poisonous berries that look like black berries?
Blackberries are also popular because, even though they have many lookalikes, none of those lookalikes are dangerous. In different parts of the United States, you may run into olallieberry, marionberry, boysenberry, loganberry, and dewberry.