Blackberry
Rubus allegheniensis

Other Names: Allegheny Blackberry, American Blackberry, Bly, Bramble, Bramble-Kite, Brambleberry, Brameberry, Brummel

Habitat: (Rubus allegheniensis) Shrub or cane, perennial, native to Eastern N. America from Nova Scotia to Ontario, New York, Virginia and North Carolina south. Found in dry thickets, clearings and woodland margins, fence rows, open meadows, roadsides and waste places. Cultivation: Blackberry is easily grown in a good well-drained loamy soil in sun or semi-shade. When the flowers bloom in the wild it is a beautiful sight, hillsides and feilds are coverd with white flowers. Plants have biennial stems, they produce a number of new stems from the perennial rootstock each year, these stems fruit in their second year and then die. Blackberry canes are long and very thorny, growing in groups or thickets. Canes branch and can grow up to 15 feet or more in length and thickets can extend to hundreds of square acres in an area. Canes die off after 2 to 3 years but are usually retained in the thickets making them largely impenetrable. Leaves are light green, serrate and palmate with 3 to five leaflets or fingers, the main vein on the back of each leaflet has thorns. The flowers are white, five petaled and bloom in April and May. Fruit is usually ripe in late June through July. Gather edible fruit when ripe, can be frozen or canned for later use. Gather leaves and roots of young (first year) cane, dry for later herb use.

Properties: Blackberry is edible and medicinal. Used extensively by the Native American tribes, it had many other surprising uses. The leaf is more commonly used as a medicinal herb, but the root also has medicinal value. Young edible shoots are harvested in the spring, peeled and used in salads. The fruit is excellent, edible raw or made into jelly or jam. The root-bark and the leaves are astringent, depurative, diuretic, tonic and vulnerary. They make a medicinal remedy for dysentery, diarrhoea, haemorrhoids, cystitis, the root is the more astringent. Externally, they are used to treat sore throats, mouth ulcers and gum inflammations. A decoction of the leaves is useful as a gargle in treating thrush and also makes a good general mouthwash. The presence of large amounts of tannins give blackberry roots and leaves an astringent effect that is useful for treating diarrhea. These same constituents are also helpful for soothing sore throats, a medicinal syrup is also made using the fruit and root bark in honey for cough.

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Folklore: Blackberries were in olden days supposed to give protection against all 'evil runes,' if gathered at the right time of the moon. Since ancient Greek physicians prescribed the herb for gout, the leaves, roots, and even berries have been employed as a medicinal herb. The most common uses were for treating diarrhea, sore throats, and wounds. Native Americans made fibre, obtained from the stem, it was used to make a strong twine. Another use was as a huge barricade around the village made of piles of the thorny canes, for protection from 4 and 2 legged predators. A purple to dull blue dye is obtained from the fruit.

TRY THIS RECIPES

Medicinal herb tea: To 1 ounce of the dried leaves and root bark, add 1 pint of boiling water, and steep 10 min., drink a tea cup at a time.