is a name which usually refers to the common European blackberry, Rubus fruticosus, also known as bramble; but it is also a collective name for a large group of fruits in the same genus which grow throughout the cooler parts of the world, particularly in upland and northern regions.
There are said to be over 2,000 varieties of blackberry, counting both the frequent and naturally occurring hybrids and the cultivars.
The genus Rubus also includes raspberries. The untrained eye cannot always distinguish between a blackberry and a raspberry, since the shapes and sizes of the fruit, leaves, and thorns vary, and there are both red blackberries and black raspberries. However, when a blackberry is picked, it comes off the plant with its receptacle, the solid centre to which the druplets (the round, juicy parts) are attached. When a raspberry is picked, the cluster of druplets comes away from the receptacle, which remains as a hard, white cone on the stem. A good blackberry has druplets which are large in relation to the hard part.
Blackberries are more highly esteemed in Britain and N. Europe than in other European countries. During their season they are commonly gathered and eaten fresh, as they keep for only a short time; or they may be used in desserts such as the British blackberry and apple pie. They are sometimes preserved by bottling but lose much of their evanescent flavour. They make an excellent jelly but a somewhat pippy jam. Tea made from blackberry leaves is a traditional cure for indigestion and is believed to purify the blood.
In Britain it used to be considered unlucky to pick blackberries after a certain date, sometimes Michaelmas (29 September) but with regional variants, as in Warwickshire, 12 October, the day of the traditional ‘Mop’ or hiring fair. Later than this, the devil was believed to have stamped or spat on the berries.
In Scandinavia, elsewhere in N. Europe, and Asia blackberries and dewberries are common but there are also species peculiar to the far north. These include the juicy, flavourful, red Arctic bramble, R. arcticus; but the most famous is the golden cloudberry, R. chamaemorus.
In W. and C. Asia blackberries grow as far south as Iran and are also common in the Himalayas. One Himalayan species, R. procerus, bears large thimble-shaped berries and is sometimes called Himalayan Giant; it is now found growing wild in the USA. The wild black berries of the Far East are more usually black raspberries than blackberries. In New Zealand, European blackberries introduced by white settlers are common.
Blackberries in the USA are highly diverse. The indigenous species vary across regions, and have also been interbred with imported varieties. They include the Oregon evergreen or cutleaf blackberry, R. laciniatus, originally from Europe (thought to have arrived in Oregon via the South Sea islands, whither someone from England had taken it), whose leaves are separated into ‘fingers’. American Indians used both berries and leaves in the same way as Europeans, but also preserved them for the winter by drying them. Dried berries of all kinds were often pounded with dried meat and fat to make pemmican.
There is much cultivation of blackberries (and of the related dewberry) in the USA. Native species developed for cultivation are erect woody plants rather than trailing brambles; they include R. allegheniensis and R. argutus (tall or highbush blackberry), often interbred with imported strains.
Blackberries and raspberries are often crossed to give varieties such as the loganberry and tayberry (see raspberry).
Alan Davidson was a distinguished author and publisher, and one of the world's best-known writers on fish and fish cookery. In 1975 he retired early from the diplomatic service—after serving in, among other places, Washington, Egypt, Tunisia, and Laos, where he was British Ambassador—to pursue a fruitful second career as a food historian and food writer extraordinaire. Among his popular books are Seafood of South-East Asia, North Atlantic Seafood, and Mediterranean Seafood. In 2003, shortly before his death, he was awarded the Erasmus Prize for his contribution to European culture.
