California Blackberry (Edible Plants on UC Berkeley Campus)

California Blackberry

Rubus ursinus

Common names ⁴

trailing blackberry
California blackberry
western dewberry
Douglasberry
Pacific blackberry
dewberry
wild blackberry
blackberry
California dewberry
native blackberry
edible blackberry
native trailing blackberry
California grapeleaf dewberry

Description ⁵

More info for the term: shrub

Trailing blackberry is a low-growing, trailing or climbing, native
evergreen shrub [9,27,55]. This mound-building shrub can grow to 15 or
20 feet (5-6 m) in length [6,13,55]. The densely prickled stems are
greenish when young but turn brown at maturity [9]. The somewhat
prickly, deeply-lobed, alternate leaves are palmate and a lighter green
color beneath [9,13,27].

The stems of most blackberries are biennial. Sterile first-year stems,
known as primocanes, develop from buds at or below the ground surface
and produce only leaves. Lateral branches, or floricanes, develop in
the axils of the primocanes during the second year and bear both leaves
and flowers [24].

Perfect flowers of trailing blackberry develop in clusters of 2 to 15
near the ends of leafy branches [9,13,55]. Fruit is red and hard when
immature but shiny black when ripe [6]. Fruit is oblong or conical,
somewhat bristly, and up to 0.8 inches (2 cm) in length [9,55].
Aggregates of druplets, commonly referred to as "berries," are sweet and
flavorful at maturity [9,27].

Importance to livestock and wildlife ⁶

More info for the term: cover

Wildlife: Trailing blackberry provides food and cover for many wildlife
species [9,14]. Blackberries are eaten by numerous birds, including the
ruffed grouse, northern bobwhite, sharp-tailed grouse, California quail,
ring-necked pheasant, blue grouse, gray (Hungarian) partridge,
band-tailed pigeon, American robin, yellow-breasted chat, pine grosbeak,
gray catbird, and summer tanager [3,10,64]. Jays, pigeons, northern
mockingbird, sparrows, tanagers, thrashers, and towhees, consume the
fruit of trailing blackberry and nest in its tangled branches [13].
Mammals, such as the coyote, common opossum, skunks, gray fox, red fox,
raccoon, squirrels, chipmunks, and black bear, consume the fruit of
blackberries [10,64].

Black-tailed deer feed on the stems and foliage of trailing blackberry
[13], and in some parts of California it is considered a preferred
browse [14]. In the Coast Range of western Oregon, leaves are selected
by deer in all seasons except summer, when a wide variety of other foods
are present [34]. In many areas trailing blackberry is particularly
important to deer during the fall and winter [12,35]. Deer often feed
heavily on the foliage until the leaves are covered by snow [12]. The
young leaves, which develop earlier than those of most other associated
shrubs, provide an important food source when forage supplies are lowest
and deer are threatened with malnutrition [34]. Hines and Land [35]
report that trailing blackberry browse is a preferred winter food of
black-tailed deer inhabiting Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) forests
of the Oregon Coast Ranges. In this area it supplied nearly 50 percent
of the total deer forage at the beginning of winter. In other winter
feeding trials, deer reduced the leaves and twigs of trailing blackberry
by as much as 80 to 89 percent [34].

Elk feed on trailing blackberry through much of the year in parts of
California, although utilization appears to be highest during the fall
and winter [30]. Rabbits, porcupines, mountain beaver, and beaver
occasionally consume the stems, leaves, and cambium of blackberries
[10,64].

Livestock: Blackberries, in general, provide only minimal browse for
domestic livestock. In some locations, trailing blackberry is
moderately grazed by domestic sheep but is rarely used by cattle [37].

Other uses and values ⁷

More info for the terms: fresh, vines

Fruits of the trailing blackberry are sweet and edible [27]. The
commercially grown loganberry, youngberry, and boysenberry were
originally derived from this species [54].

Native Americans historically ate fresh blackberries in summer. Fruit
was dried and combined with meat to make cakes which were eaten in
winter [13]. Unripened berries were soaked in water to make a cool
refreshing drink, and leaves or vines were used in making teas. Roots
were boiled in water to make various medicinal preparations [9]. The
fruit and stems of many blackberries have also been used to produce
various tonics or medicines [6].

Edible ⁸

This is the native blackberry species and there is an invasive one, Himalayan blackberry which is the common species one would see on the side of the road. Both are edible raw and used for a lot of jam, and for other delicacies like cakes.