Kentucky Blackberry
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Kentucky Blackberry
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Kentucky Blackberry
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Kentucky Blackberry
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Kentucky Blackberry
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Kentucky Blackberry
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Kentucky Blackberry
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Kentucky Blackberry
The usually black fruit is not a true berry. Botanically it is termed an aggregate fruit, composed of small drupelets. It is a widespread and well-known group of over 375 species, many of which are closely related apomictic microspecies native throughout Europe, northwestern Africa, temperate western and central Asia and North and South America.
Growth and anatomical description
Blackberries are perennial plants which typically bear biennial stems ("canes") from the perennial root system.
In its first year, a new stem, the primocane, grows vigorously to its full length of 3–6 m (in some cases, up to 9 m), arching or trailing along the ground and bearing large palmately compound leaves with five or seven leaflets; it does not produce any flowers. In its second year, the cane becomes a floricane and the stem does not grow longer, but the lateral buds break to produce flowering laterals (which have smaller leaves with three or five leaflets). First- and second-year shoots usually have numerous short-curved, very sharp prickles that are often erroneously called thorns. These prickles can tear through denim with ease and make the plant very difficult to navigate around. Prickle-free cultivars have been developed. Recently the University of Arkansas has developed primocane fruiting blackberries that grow and flower on first-year growth much as the primocane-fruiting (also called fall bearing or everbearing) red raspberries do.
Ecology
Blackberry leaves are food for certain caterpillars; some grazing mammals, especially deer, are also very fond of the leaves. Caterpillars of the concealer moth Alabonia geoffrella have been found feeding inside dead blackberry shoots. When mature, the berries are eaten and their seeds dispersed by several mammals, such as the red fox and the Eurasian badger, as well as by small birds.
Blackberries grow wild throughout all parts of the United Kingdom and Ireland. They are an important element in the ecology of those countries. Harvesting the berries is a popular pastime in these countries. However, it is also considered an invasive weed, sending down its strong suckering roots amongst garden hedges and shrubs. In some parts of the world, such as in Australia, Chile, New Zealand, and the Pacific Northwest of North America, some blackberry species, particularly Rubus armeniacus (syn. R. procerus, 'Himalaya') and Rubus laciniatus ('Evergreen'), are naturalised and considered an invasive species and a serious weed.
