Rubus frondosus

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Rubus frondosus
Light:Full Sun Part Shade
Moisture:Xeric Mesic
Hardiness:5
Soil pH:5.6-8.4
Self Pollinated
Height:3'
Blooms:Early Summer
Open Woods Forest
Native to:
Edible Rating:PFAF Edibility RatingPFAF Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating:PFAF Medicinal RatingPFAF Medicinal Rating
Tea:Yes
Poisonous

Rubus frondosus (common name: yankee blackberry)

Propagation: Seed - requires stratification and is best sown in early autumn in a cold frame. Stored seed requires one month stratification at about 3°c and is best sown as early as possible in the year. Prick out the seedlings when they are large enough to handle and grow on in a cold frame. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring of the following year.

Cuttings of half-ripe wood, July/August in a frame[1].

Tip layering in July. Plant out in autumn.

Division in early spring or just before leaf-fall in the autumn[1].

Cultivation: Easily grown in a good well-drained loamy soil in sun or semi-shade[2][3][1].

Cultivated for its edible fruit in N. America[4][5].

This species is a blackberry with biennial stems, it produces a number of new stems each year from the perennial rootstock, these stems fruit in their second year and then die[1].

The plant produces apomictic flowers, these produce fruit and viable seed without fertilization, each seedling is a genetic copy of the parent[1].

Plants in this genus are notably susceptible to honey fungus[1].

Range: Eastern N. America - Massachusetts to Indiana.

Habitat: Thickets and borders of woods[6]. Mainly found in dry soils[7].

Edibility: Fruit - raw or cooked[8][4][9][5][10]. The berries have been cooked, shaped into little cakes and then dried for winter use[10].

Medicinal: A decoction of the root has been used to restore the menstrual flow and to treat lung problems[10].

Usage: A purple to dull blue dye is obtained from the fruit[11].

Pollinators: Apomixy

Soil: Can grow in light, medium, and heavy soils.

Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.

Flower Type: Hermaphrodite

Links

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
  2. Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
  3. Bean, William. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Murray, 1981.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Brouk, Bohuslav. Plants Consumed by Man. Academic Press, 1975.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Hill, Albert. Economic Botany. The Maple Press, 1952.
  6. Lyndon, Merritt. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co, 1950.
  7. Britton, Nathaniel and Addison Brown. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada. Dover Publications, 1970.
  8. Tanaka, Tyōzaburō. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing, 1976.
  9. Yanovsky, Elias. Food Plants of the North American Indians Publication 237. US Department of Agriculture.
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 Moerman, Daniel. Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press, 1998.
  11. Grae, Ida. Nature's Colors. MacMillan Publishing, 1974.