Blackberry Season Is Upon Us

There are at least eight different kinds of Pennsylvania shrubs generally referred to as blackberries. All are in the genus Rubus, which is also the genus for dewberries and raspberries. These plants are members of the rose family (Rosaceae), which can be seen in the configuration of their floral petals, stamen, etc.. Blackberries are referred to as "sub-ligneous" because the stem is only semi-woody and not as long lived as true woody shrubs and trees. The stems are biennial in growth, with new stems not blooming until the second year.

Many blackberries bloom from late May through mid June. It is often worthwhile to make notes about the location where you discover thickets of canes with copious white flowers so that you can return. The fruits ripen during the latter half of July and early August. So, if you can recall the spots of earlier blooming colonies, now is the time to return to sample the fruit. The fruit of a blackberry is known as an aggregate, which is composed of many small juicy rounded drupelets. Blackberries are consumed by many species of wildlife, including box turtles, who feed on fallen berries and become purple stained around their mouths.

The photographs above of common blackberry, Rubus allegheniensis, were taken June 4th (blooming) and July 16th (fruit) at Erie Bluffs State Park, a recently protected tract of land along the shore of Lake Erie near Lake City, PA. This property is the sixth Pennsylvania State Park established by Western Pennsylvania Conservancy in its 72-year history of "saving the places we care about" in Penn's Woods. All made possible by the support of a dedicated membership.

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