Rubus spectabilis
| Rubus spectabilis | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |  |
| Hardiness: | 5 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Height: | 6' |
| Width: | 3' |
| Speed: | Moderate |
| Blooms: | Mid Spring |
| Open Woods Forest | |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
 | |
Rubus spectabilis (common name: salmonberry)
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]. Grows well in the shade of trees[1] though it is less likely to fruit well in such a position[K].
Hardy to about -25°c[4].
A very ornamental plant, but it is invasive[2]. It does not fruit well in Britain[3], but has become naturalized in Surrey and Cumbria in cool acid woodland soils[5].
This species is a raspberry 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].
Plants in this genus are notably susceptible to honey fungus[1].
Range: Western N. America - Alaska to California. Occasionally naturalized in Britain[6].
Habitat: Moist spots in and about woods below 300 metres in California[7].
Edibility: Fruit - raw, cooked or dried for later use[2][8][6][9][10][11]. Juicy with a very good flavour[5][11]. The fruit can be made into jams and jellies[12]. This species is not of much value in Britain, it does not fruit freely in the cooler summers of this country and the fruits do not always develop their full flavour[3]. The fruit can range in colour from yellow, through orange to red, it is about the size of a cultivated raspberry but is rather inferior in flavour and often has a distinctive bitterness, especially in cooler summers[K]. Another report says that it fruits freely in Britain[5].
Young shoots - peeled and eaten raw or cooked like asparagus[3][10][13][11][12]. They are harvested in the spring as they grow above the soil and whilst they are still tender[14].
Flowers - raw[15].
The leaves are used as a tea substitute[11].
Medicinal: The leaves and the root are astringent[15]. A poultice of the chewed leaves has been used as a dressing on burns[12].
The root bark is analgesic, astringent, disinfectant and stomachic[12]. A decoction is used in the treatment of stomach complaints[12]. A decoction has been used to lessen the pains of labour[12]. The powdered bark has been used as a dusting powder on burns and sores[12]. A poultice of the bark has been applied to wounds and aching teeth to ease the pain[12]. A poultice of the chewed bark has been used as a dressing to relive pain and clean burns and wounds[12].
Usage: A purple to dull blue dye is obtained from the fruit[16].
The hollowed stems are used as pipes[17]. (The report does not specify what type of pipes)
Pollinators: Insects
Notes: We could supply this in the next catalogue.
Soil: Can grow in light, medium, and heavy soils.
Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.
Seed Ripens: Early Summer-Mid Summer
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Links
References
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Bean, William. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Murray, 1981.
- ↑ Phillips, Roger and Martyn Rix. Shrubs. Pan Books, 1989.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Thomas, Graham. Ornamental Shrubs, Climbers and Bamboos. Murray, 1992.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Clapham, Arthur and Tom Tootin, Edmund Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press, 1962.
- ↑ Munz, David. A California Flora. University of California Press, 1959.
- ↑ Hedrick, Ulysses. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications, 1972.
- ↑ Harrington, Harold. Edible Native Plants of the Rocky Mountains. University of New Mexico Press, 1967.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Turner, Nancy. Edible Wild Fruits and Nuts of Canada. National Museum of Natural Sciences, 1978.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Facciola, Stephen. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, 1990.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 12.6 12.7 12.8 Moerman, Daniel. Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press, 1998.
- ↑ Gunther, Erna. Ethnobotany of Western Washington. University of Washington Press, 1981.
- ↑ Yanovsky, Elias. Food Plants of the North American Indians Publication 237. US Department of Agriculture.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Schofield, Janice. Discovering Wild Plants.
- ↑ Grae, Ida. Nature's Colors. MacMillan Publishing, 1974.
- ↑ Turner, Nancy. Plants in British Columbian Indian Technology. British Columbia Provincial Museum, 1979.