DEWBERRIES

DEWBERRY, WITH BOTH FLOWERING AND VEGETATIVE CANES...

DEWBERRY FLOWERING CANES...

....DEWBERRIES (Goog;e photo)...

FIVE-PETALED FLOWERS...

Friday, 7:45 AM.  61 degrees F at the ferry dock, 58 on the back porch.  Wind SW, calm with light gusts.  The sky is clear, the humidity 87%.  The barometer has headed down, now at 30.03".  Thunderstorms are predicted for tomorrow evening and later; I am trying to get some staining done on the deck and porch but we keep getting high humidity or rain.

   Dewberries are essentially low or creeping blackberries or brambles. like other blackberries, they have first year canes bearing leaves only, called primocanes; and second year canes bearing flowers, called floricanes.  The brambles (blackberries) are in the genus Rubus, in the Rose Family.  They are are a confusing lot, and only an expert taxonomist can love them.  Add to that the daunting fact that they are quite thorny and mostly they will be, at best,  lumped together in groups by most observers, including myself.

   The dewberries are species of Rubus (ancient Latin for blackberries) that are prostrate or trailing, with three or five leaflets to a leaf and a black, edible berry that does not separate from its stalk.  The bushes are perhaps two feet tall at best.  The dewberry pictured is found in abundance on the Sioux River beach, and I will identify it as R. flagellaris or R. hispida.  As either species name implies, they are armed with thorns.
   Dewberries are an important wildlife food and were much used by indigenous people.  They play an important role in stabilizing the beach sand and are good for eating and for preserves, and a tea can be made from the leaves.