Black Raspberry
Rubus occidentalis
Summer hasn't truly begun for me until I can taste the sweet, tart fruit of the black raspberry plant. And, after a well earn day of working in the summer sun there is no more tranquil way to unwind than to go foraging. In my part of the Catskills, this tasty fruit begins to appear in early July and continues to fruit to the end of the month.
The black raspberry is related to the more famous red raspberry and blackberry but its unique taste has earned it its own right. The fruit tends to be smaller, seedier, and tarter than the other two species. But where I wander they are bountiful and make up the backbone of my foraged fruits. And, like all (non-poisonous) berries, they are good for one's health.
When foraging for this berry it's best to wear long sleeves and long plants because one will have to dive into masses of thorny, sticker branches to get the finest fruits. But all that hard work and those bleeding scratches pay off for that one delicious little berry! Take note, if one waits too long, the birds will greedily snatch up the fruit leaving none behind. And finally, remember, black bears also like berries!
Fellow naturalist,
Dave Spier, has more information on and appreciation for the black raspberries
here.
The darker, the tastier
