Native American Herbal, Plant Knowledge

BLACKBERRY: Names and Photo ID's

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Blackberries come in many species and

varieties. Katsi doesn't give us the Mohawk

name. Ojibwe women call them all Odatagago

minagawunj, that is, black berry.

Nuu-Chah-Nuth peoples of the Northwest

Coast tribes on Vancouver Island, BC,

distinguish two kinds: Chismapt, a trailing,

vine-like berry that grows in rocky, dry, open

sites, and the bush blackberry, which

resembles red raspberry plants: : hisshitlmapt.

Black raspberries look like the ID photo at the

left.

There are other types of blackberries -- which

are members of the Rose family, Rosaceae, with a

genus name of Rubus and various species names.

Robus frondosus and Rubus occidentalis are the

two types commonest in Minnesota and

Wisconsin.

The photo shows a common wild type, whose fruit is borne differently from the black raspberry

type. This type of blackberry forms large, thick tangles, higher than a person's head. Because of the

bramble thorns, only thick-coated bears (of thickly-dressed, determined types) can gather the

blackberries that grow toward the centers of such thick tangles. Another type of berry -- sometimes

called Dewberry -- grows on trailing vines, rather than woody canes.

Depending on the species and how far north you are, blackberries begin to flower with large

white blossoms in early spring, with fruit ripening through late summer and early fall. The

commonest type of wild blackberries -- like the ones shown above -- have white, woody stems that

extend almost through the berry. Very ripe berries pulled off the stems will break apart into the

small, round parts of the berry, each containing a seed. In making jams or jellies, it's better to

Blackberry ID's, pix

http://www.kstrom.net/isk/food/blaktrib.html (1 of 2) [5/17/2004 11:51:17 AM]