Dewberry
mûre de la haie (French), Ackerbeere (German), mora di rovo (Italian), zarzamora (Spanish), amora (Portuguese), korbær (Danish), blsbringbær (Norwegian), blshallon (Swedish), sinivatukka (Finnish), yezhevika (Russian), jezyna popielica (Polish), hamvas szeder (Hungarian)
Dewberries are closely related to the blackberry and the raspberry.
They have a smaller distribution, but bear smaller fruits with fewer, but larger, purple druplets. The flavour of the berry tends to vary from season to season, as well as in abundance and quality.
Other dewberries, including R. ursinus and R. canadensis, are common in North America, where some have been cultivated. These tend to be larger than the European ones.
In Scandinavia, northern Europe, and Asia blackberries and dewberries are common. There are also species peculiar to the far north, including the brownish-red rock bramble, R. saxatilis.
Some close relatives of the blackberry and dewberry include the following:
Boysenberries are an elaborate hybrid of a youngberry and two blackberry cultivars, resulting in a fruit resembling a large reddish-purple blackberry. Named after its grower, they were developed in California in the 1930s. Boysenberries are sweeter than loganberries and can be eaten raw, although they are more often used to make jam.
Loganberries (R. loganobaccus) first appeared in 1881 at Santa Cruz, California, in the garden of Judge J.H. Logan. It was a natural hybrid, probably the result of a native dewberry and a raspberry. Some authorities, however, claim that it was simply a cultivar of the Pacific blackberry. Since then, loganberries have been cultivated to produce very large, juicy, dark wine-red berries that have the consistency of blackberries but with an intense, very tart, raspberry flavour.
Tayberries are arguably the finest hybrids of all. Bred in Scotland, they are a cross between the American blackberry ‘Aurora’ and a tetraploid raspberry. They grow on long, spiny canes, producing berries that are a bright red elongated shape. They have a slightly tart aromatic flavour, but are delicious raw, although they are more often preferred cooked.
Tummelberries are similar to tayberries but fruit later in the season. Other similar crossbreeds include sunberries and wineberries.
Youngberries are dewberry/loganberry hybrids that resemble a dark red, elongated blackberry, but taste like a sweetened loganberry. Another cultivar said to be a cross between the youngberry and the loganberry is the “ollalie”.
