Monthly Archives: July 2016

Thimbleberry, Rubus parviflorus

Thimbleberry fruit and leavesNames:   Thimbleberries have a hollow core, like raspberries, making the berries easy to fit on the tip of a finger like a thimble.  Rubus is derived from ruber, a latin word for red.  Although parviflorus means small-flowered, the flowers of this species are among the largest of any Rubus species; it may get its name from a comparison to white wild roses.  This species may also be called Western Thimbleberry, Western Thimble Raspberry, or White-flowering Raspberry.

Relationships:   Rubus is a large genus sometimes collectively known as brambles. It has between 400 and 750 species, including blackberries, raspberries, dewberries, and cloudberries. Rubus is considered taxonomically complex due to frequent hybridization and a high degree of polyploidy.  It occurs primarily in northern temperate regions, but can be found on all continents, except Antarctica.  Many are grown commercially and several cultivated varieties are prized for their large, juicy berries, including Boysenberries, Loganberries, and Marionberries.  The berries are actually aggregates of drupelets.  There are about 200 species native to North America.  In the Pacific Northwest, the three most important native species are Blackcap Raspberry, Salmonberry, and Thimbleberry.  Two of our worst nonnative invaders belong to this genus, Himalayan Blackberry, R. armeniacus (R. discolor), and Evergreen or Cutleaf Blackberry, R. laciniatus.  Although they have delicious berries, and are excellent wildlife habitat, these species should be controlled as much as possible or they quickly take over disturbed habitats.

Distribution of Thimbleberry from USDA Plants Database

Distribution of Thimbleberry from USDA Plants Database

Distribution:  Thimbleberry is native from southeast Alaska to northern Mexico; eastward throughout the Rocky Mountain states and provinces to New Mexico; through South Dakota to the Great Lakes region.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Growth:  This species grows from 2-9 feet (0.5-3m) tall.

Thimbleberry plant2

Habitat: It is found in moist to dry open woods, edges, open fields, and along shorelines. Wetland designation: FAC-, Facultative, it is equally likely to occur in wetlands or non-wetlands.

Thimbleberry flowers2Diagnostic Characters: Thimbleberry stems have no prickles, and gray, shedding bark.  Leaves are large, lobed, like maple leaves and fuzzy on both sides.  Flowers are white and large (about 4 cm); borne 3-7 in a terminal cluster.  The fruit is an aggregate of small, red, hairy drupelets in the shape of a domed cap.

In the landscape: Although some may regard it as a pest, Thimbleberry adapts better to an ornamental landscape than its prickly, more aggressive cousins.  Its white flowers are bright and cheerful.  Its large, maple-like leaves make a bold contrast to finer textured shrubs.  In fall, leaves turn a bright, golden yellow.  Thimbleberry is especially attractive on hillsides with dappled shade.

Thimbleberry fruit

Phenology:  Bloom time: May-June.  Fruit ripens: July-September.

Propagation:  Stratify seeds warm for 90 days then cold at 40º F (4º C) for 90 days; exposure to sulfuric acid or sodium hyperchlorite solutions prior to cold stratification may improve germination. Thimbleberry can be vegetatively propagated by cuttings, layering or division.  It spreads through underground rhizomes and resprouts from root crowns after a disturbance.Thimbleberry fruit2

 

 

Use by People:  Natives ate the young shoots, raw in early spring.  The berries were eaten fresh, mixed with other berries.  Some tribes collected unripe berries and stored them in baskets or cedar-bark bags until ripe; others dried them like salal berries, although some considered them too soft for drying.  The large leaves made handy containers for collecting berries and were also used for wrapping and storing elderberries.  The boiled bark was used as soap.  Today the berries, considered too seedy for jam, are sometimes made into jelly.  Dried, powdered leaves were applied to wounds and burns to prevent scarring.  A tea was made from the leaves for medicinal purposes. Hikers call it the soft fuzzy leaves “nature’s toilet paper.”

Use by wildlife: The brambles rank at the very top of summer foods for wildlife, especially birds: grouse, pigeons, quail, grosbeaks, jays, robins, thrushes, towhees, waxwings, sparrows, to name just a few.  The berries are also popular with raccoons, opossums, skunks, foxes, squirrels, chipmunks and other rodents.  The leaves and stems are eaten extensively by deer and rabbits.  Bear, beaver and marmots eat fruit, bark and twigs.  Flowers are usually pollinated by insects.

Thimbleberry plant

Links:

USDA Plants Database

Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria

WTU Herbarium Image Collection, Plants of Washington, Burke Museum

E-Flora BC, Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Jepson Eflora, University of California

Calphotos

Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center

USDA Forest Service-Fire Effects Information System

Virginia Tech ID Fact Sheet

Native Plants Network, Propagation Protocol Database

Plants for a Future Database

Native American Ethnobotany, University of Michigan, Dearborn

 

 


 

Blackcap Raspberry, Rubus leucodermis

Blackcap Raspberry                                                                     The Rose Family—Rosaceae                                                    

 Rubus leucodermis Douglas ex Torr. & A. Gray

(ROO-bus  loy-ko-DERM-is)

Whitebark RaspberryNames:  Blackcap Raspberry is also known as Whitebark Raspberry or simply Black Raspberry.    Rubus, derived from ruber, a latin word for red, is the genus of plants generally called brambles.  It includes blackberries, raspberries, dewberries, and cloudberries. Rasp- may have come from a 15th century word, raspis, which means “a fruit from which a drink could be made.”  “Leucodermis means white skin, or “whitebark”—referring to the very glaucous (whitish bloom) on its stems.

 

 

Relationships:   Rubus is a large genus with between 400 and 750 species.  Rubus is considered taxonomically complex due to frequent hybridization and a high degree of polyploidy.  It occurs primarily in northern temperate regions, but can be found on all continents, except Antarctica.  Many are grown commercially and several cultivated varieties are prized for their large, juicy berries, including Boysenberries, Loganberries, and Marionberries.  The berries are actually aggregates of drupelets.  There are about 200 species native to North America.  In the Pacific Northwest, the three most important native species are Blackcap Raspberry, Salmonberry, and Thimbleberry.  There are several smaller species, as well.

Two of our worst nonnative invaders belong to this genus, Himalayan Blackberry, R. armeniacus (R. discolor), and Evergreen or Cutleaf Blackberry, R. laciniatus.  Although they have delicious berries, and are excellent wildlife habitat, these species should be controlled as much as possible or they quickly take over disturbed habitats.

Distribution of Blackcap Raspberry from USDA Plants Database

Distribution of Blackcap Raspberry from USDA Plants Database

Distribution: This species is native from central British Columbia (possibly into Southeast Alaska) to southern California; to eastern Montana, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico.

Growth: Black Raspberry canes arch up to 6 feet, (2m) tall.

Habitat: It grows mostly in disturbed sites, fields, and open forests.

 

 

 

Diagnostic Characters: Its stems are covered by a whitish or bluish, waxy bloom, and are armed with flattened, hooked prickles.  Leaves usually have 3 sharp-toothed leaflets with white undersides.  Flowers are borne in clusters of 2 to 7; petals are small, white to pink, shorter than the sepals.  Fruits are the typical raspberry: a hollow globe-shaped “cap”; but ripe, seedy drupelets are dark purplish black.

Blackcap leaves

In the Landscape: This species is more often grown for its fruit than ornamentally.  Its prickly, wild nature makes it best suited for a wild garden.  Its bluish-whitish stems and arching habit are attractive, but its hooked prickles will grab or scratch anyone walking too close!

Blackcap Raspberry fruitPhenology: Bloom time:  May-June;  Fruit ripens:  Jul-Aug.

Propagation:  Stratify seeds warm for 90 days then cold at 40º F (4º C) for 90 days.  Blackcap Raspberry can be vegetatively propagated by cuttings, layering or division.

Use by People: The berries were eaten fresh or dried by natives.  They were also used to make a purple dye.  In fact, when grown commercially, the soft berries are more often used to make a dye, such as is used on meat packages, than for food.  Many people, however, love the flavor and use them to make pies, jams, jellies, or syrups.  Berry-pickers beware! — the berries will stain your hands and it is difficult to avoid being scratched by prickles!  A tea, high in vitamin C can be made from the leaves.  Young shoots can be peeled, eaten raw, or cooked like asparagus.

Blackcap Raspberry fruit2

Use by Wildlife:    The brambles rank at the very top of summer foods for wildlife, especially birds: grouse, pigeons, quail, grosbeaks, jays, robins, thrushes, towhees, waxwings, sparrows, to name just a few.  The berries are also popular with raccoons, opossums, skunks, foxes, squirrels, chipmunks and other rodents.  The leaves and stems are eaten extensively by deer and rabbits.  Bear, beaver and marmots eat fruit, bark and twigs.  Flowers are usually pollinated by insects.  These usually prickly plants make impenetrable thickets where small animals find secure cover.

Links:

USDA Plants Database

Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria

WTU Herbarium Image Collection, Plants of Washington, Burke Museum

E-Flora BC, Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Jepson Eflora, University of California

Calphotos

Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center

Virginia Tech ID Fact Sheet

Plants for a Future Database

Native American Ethnobotany, University of Michigan, Dearborn

 

American Red Raspberry

Rubus idaeus L. ssp. strigosus (Michx.) Focke

The species type, Red Raspberry, R. idaeus, is native to Europe and northern Asia.  Idaeus is derived from Mt. Ida in Crete where Jupiter was hidden as an infant.  American Red Raspberry, or Grayleaf Red Raspberry, also known as Rubus strigosus (strigosus means bristled), can be found throughout much of North America, excluding the southwestern United States.  In our region, it is found in some parts of the Cascades.  Many cultivated varieties and hybrids are available for growing luscious berries; red, yellow, black, or purple!

Distribution of American Red Raspberry

Distribution of American Red Raspberry

Raspberry

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Links:

USDA Plants Database

Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria

WTU Herbarium Image Collection, Plants of Washington, Burke Museum

E-Flora BC, Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Calphotos

Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center

USDA Forest Service-Fire Effects Information System

Virginia Tech ID Fact Sheet

Native Plants Network, Propagation Protocol Database

Plants for a Future Database

Native American Ethnobotany, University of Michigan, Dearborn

 

Clustered Wild Rose

Clustered Wild Rose                             The Rose Family—Rosaceae

Rosa pisocarpa A. Gray

(rose-uh  pie-zoh-KAR-puh)

Rosa pisocarpa flower

Names: Clustered Wild Rose is also known as Cluster Rose, Peafruit Rose or Swamp Rose.  Pisocarpa means pea-like fruit.

Relationships: There are over 100 species of rose native to Eurasia, North America, and Northwest Africa. Long prized for their beauty and fragrance, more than 14,000 cultivated varieties of roses have been developed. There are about 22 species native to the United States. We have 3 common species on the west side of the Cascades in our region: Rosa gymnocarpa, R. nutkana, & R. pisocarpa. R. woodsii is common on the east side of the Cascades.

Distribution of Clustered Wild Rose from USDA Plants Database

Distribution of Clustered Wild Rose from USDA Plants Database

Distribution: This species is native from southern British Columbia to northern California, mostly on the west side of the Cascades in B.C. and Washington; more widespread in Oregon.  It has been found in one county in northern Idaho.

The prickles of Clustered Wild Rose are generally smaller and less robust than Nootka Rose's

The prickles of Clustered Wild Rose are generally smaller and less robust than Nootka Rose’s

Growth: Clustered Wild Rose grows 3-6 feet (1-3m) tall.

 

 

 

 

 

Diagnostic Characters: It is difficult to distinguish from Nootka Rose, except that its pink flowers are smaller and usually in clusters of 2-10.  The stems are variously prickly; it also has paired prickles that arise at the base of each leaf, but they are usually smaller (or missing) than Nootka Rose’s.  Leaves have 5-9 finely toothed leaflets that are not glandular.  The fruit are small, pea-sized, round to pear-shaped, purplish-red hips borne in clusters.

Habitat: Wetland designation: FAC, It is equally likely to occur in wetlands or non-wetlands.

In the landscape: Clustered Wild Rose can be used the same as Nootka Rose. It is great as a barrier plant, growing into an impenetrable thicket.  Its fragrance fills the air in a seaside habitat.  It is valuable for stabilizing banks, especially along streams.

"Pea-fruit Rose" The hips are often about the size and shape of peas.

“Pea-fruit Rose” The hips are often about the size and shape of peas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Phenology:  Bloom time:  May-July; Fruit ripens: Early fall, persisting through winter.

 

 

 

 

Propagation:  Sow in fall or stratify at 40º F (4º C) for 140 days.  Seeds may take two years to germinate; scarification and/or a warm stratification prior to the cold stratification may hasten germination.  Division of the root crown and rhizomes is an easy method to propagate fewer, larger plants.   Cuttings of semi-hardwood or hardwood are possible.

Use by People:  The fruit is much smaller than those of Nootka Rose and there is only a thin layer of flesh surrounding the hairy achenes that contain the seeds. Some natives ate the hips, raw or dried, or they boiled them to make a tea.  A decoction of the roots was used to treat sore throats or as an eyewash.  The bark was used to make a tea to ease labor pains.  Rose hips are sometimes used to make jams or jellies; they are rich in vitamins, such as A, C, & E.

Links:

USDA Plants Database

Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria

WTU Herbarium Image Collection, Plants of Washington, Burke Museum

E-Flora BC, Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Jepson Eflora, University of California

Calphotos

Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center

Virginia Tech ID Fact Sheet

Plants for a Future Database

Native American Ethnobotany, University of Michigan, Dearborn