Rubus hispidus
| Rubus hispidus | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |  |
| Hardiness: | 3 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Evergreen | |
| Height: | 1' |
| Width: | 3' |
| Blooms: | Early Summer-Mid Summer |
| Open Woods Forest | |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Rubus hispidus (common name: swamp dewberry)
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].
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 - Nova Scotia to Ontario and Minnesota, south to Georgia and Kansas.
Habitat: Moist or dry open soils, ditches, swales or open woods[4].
Edibility: Fruit - raw or cooked[5][6][7]. A sour flavour[2][3][8]. They are mainly used in preserves[9]. A reasonable flavour, but it is not worth picking in the presence of better varieties[10]. The fruit is about 12mm in diameter[1].
Medicinal: The plant has astringent properties. The juice of the plant has been used in the treatment of diarrhoea and dysentery[11][12][13].
An infusion of the fruits in warm water has been used as a vermifuge[11][13].
An infusion of the roots has been used in the treatment of consumption, coughs and fevers[13].
Usage: A purple to dull blue dye is obtained from the fruit[14].
A good ground cover plant[3].
Pollinators: Insects, apomixy
Soil: Can grow in light, medium, and heavy soils.
Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.
In Leaf: Evergreen
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Bean, William. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Murray, 1981.
- ↑ Lyndon, Merritt. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co, 1950.
- ↑ Usher, George. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable, 1974.
- ↑ Tanaka, Tyōzaburō. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing, 1976.
- ↑ Yanovsky, Elias. Food Plants of the North American Indians Publication 237. US Department of Agriculture.
- ↑ Britton, Nathaniel and Addison Brown. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada. Dover Publications, 1970.
- ↑ Kunkel, Günther. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books, 1984.
- ↑ Hedrick, Ulysses. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications, 1972.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Weiner, Michael. Earth Medicine, Earth Food. Ballantine Books, 1980.
- ↑ Bown, Deni. Royal Horticultural Society Encyclopaedia of Herbs and Their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, 1995.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Moerman, Daniel. Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press, 1998.
- ↑ Grae, Ida. Nature's Colors. MacMillan Publishing, 1974.