View Full Version : Plant ID help needed
Singeblister
15-08-2006, 02:53
I found this plant the other day , I thought it was a raspberry at first the fruit is the same I tasted one which tasted nice and sweet ( didn't eat it ) so I took a sample to look up at home , when i looked up raspberry and strawberry it matches neither but is somewhere in between ? the stems are very hairy and the fruit is a very vivid red colour here is a picture , anyone know what it is please :)
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d169/singeblister/berry.jpg
No idea I'm afraid as plant id is not my forté, but tasting first and then asking for id is a bit risky isn't it? Singeblaster? Singeblaster? You still with us? :)
*Wild stab in the dark - could it be some variety of domestic raspberry gone feral? The fruit's not very clear, do they look like raspberries? Did you find them somewhere that could be an overgrown fruit garden or similar?
Brocktor
15-08-2006, 11:23
i looked through 3 books and cannot find. its probably not edible.
Looks like Cloudberry to me
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloudberry
Cloud berries go sort of pale toffee coloured though :confused:
How about the arctic raspberry, rubus arcticus?
http://www.berryscotland.com/berry_arctic%20bramble.htm
I have to admit if those hairy leaves and stems were jaggy too, it looks like a loganberry leaf :rolleyes but the bit at the back of the berry is wrong for that too.
No idea, interested to find out though :D
Cheers,
Toddy
The cloudberry loses it's colour as it ripens, guess the one above is not truly ripe, i was looking at the leaf shape and veins in it.
This is a picture of an unripe cloudberry from Wikpedia
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7f/Rubus_chamaemorus.jpg
What type of soil was it found on and what type of habitat...........
Please say peatland soil in a mountainous area :22:
Singeblister
15-08-2006, 14:12
I have no idea what type of soil it is growing in , its dark brown blackish so it could be a bit peat like and we are surrounded by peat up towards Glossop. its growing next to the Canal in a lightly wooded area and has spread along the floor I suppose its about a foot up from the ground , I will take a picture of the whole thing in situ and get a better pic of the fruit that one didn't survive the trip home in my pocket :)
As for tasting the fruit programs i have seen suggest you rub the plant on the inside of your lip to test for reaction to it , I just dabbed the end of my tongue on the juice to see if it was raspberry.
Thanks for the replies guys I am going out now so I will take the camera with me this time.
is it a pig nut :p JOKE :lmao:
Singeblister
16-08-2006, 03:29
I forgot to take my camera with me today :11doh: next time , it does look a bit like the cloud berry plant but the stems are very different
stuart f
16-08-2006, 20:19
Hi all i did a bit of searching and i think it is RUBUS TRICOLOR. Take a look at this http://www.nireland.com/Beech.Grove/Rubus_tricolor.jpg ,and it is edible.
I found some today in the strangest of places, Cosco's car park on the outskirts of Edinburgh. Apparently it makes good ground cover on difficult soils.
Hi all i did a bit of searching and i think it is RUBUS TRICOLOR. Take a look at this http://www.nireland.com/Beech.Grove/Rubus_tricolor.jpg ,and it is edibile.
I found some today in the strangest of places, Cosco's car park on the outskirts of Edinburgh. Apparently it makes good ground cover on difficult soils.
Never come across it, or even heard of it. Well done Stuart, it looks right, comparing the photo's..........
I stand corrected, nice one Stuart F.
Never heard of RUBUS TRICOLOR, couldn't get me a hand full of cuttings could you, got the perfect place to put a load of that
stuart f
16-08-2006, 22:41
I stand corrected, nice one Stuart F.
Never heard of RUBUS TRICOLOR, couldn't get me a hand full of cuttings could you, got the perfect place to put a load of that
Hi Maver, it could be a bit off a problem as the plant is right outside Cosco's front door,and i would imagine that they would a wee bit pi :AR15firin d off if i turned up with shovel in hand and acting like Percy Thrower :D . But if i do come upon it elsewhere i will surly send you some.
Moonraker
17-08-2006, 04:02
Hi all i did a bit of searching and i think it is RUBUS TRICOLOR. Take a look at this http://www.nireland.com/Beech.Grove/Rubus_tricolor.jpg ,and it is edible.
I found some today in the strangest of places, Cosco's car park on the outskirts of Edinburgh. Apparently it makes good ground cover on difficult soils.
Yes, well spotted Stuart ;) I have specified many of those over the years, especially good as a groundcover plant in semi-shady areas. They are native of Western China, and the berries are fine to eat, especially with the decent summer heat you had in the UK. The are the same Rubus sp. family as blackberries and raspberries, cloudberries etc.
The one you found was probably a garden escape or the remainder of some landscape planting, long since overgrown.
You would be surprised by the amount of edible plants amongst the pretty landscape shrubs. PFAF have a nice article on the more useful here;
PFAF - Edible Shrubs (http://www.pfaf.org/leaflets/edibshrb.php)
Things like barberries, strawberry tree (Arbutus unendo), ornamental quince, Amelanchiers, walnut, mulberry and of course plenty of native roses for hips in the Autumn... it's a long list. Just right for some urban bushcraft :)
Ben_Hillwalker
18-08-2006, 17:35
This is going to sound unbelievably nerdy, but is Rubus tricolor a new name for Rubus saxatilis (stone bramble)?
The reason I ask is that I've checked two books so far and neither list R tricolor, but R saxatilis is a good match for the photo.
fred gordon
18-08-2006, 21:03
I think its Cloudberry,Rubus chamaemorus.Its quite common around here in NE Scotland. Its usually found on fairly damp moorland where there is a mixture of heather and sphagnum moss. The flower is white in the spring and the fruit turns from bright red to a deep orange as it ripens. The old Scots word for it is Averons and there are quite a few Averons hill, or the like, in Scotland. I think the Swedish call it Lingonberry and you can buy a really nice drink made from it in Ikea! The Danish also make a super liquer of the same thing.
This is going to sound unbelievably nerdy, but is Rubus tricolor a new name for Rubus saxatilis (stone bramble)?
The reason I ask is that I've checked two books so far and neither list R tricolor, but R saxatilis is a good match for the photo.
Nah, Rubus tricolor = Chinese Bramble
Looks a good match for it.
It's not stone bramble as this has three separate leaflets (ternate) and It ain't cloudberry which has more distictly lobed leaves, doesn't have those brown bristles and the sepals are too big (see maver's pic).
Hi Maver, it could be a bit off a problem as the plant is right outside Cosco's front door,and i would imagine that they would a wee bit pi :AR15firin d off if i turned up with shovel in hand and acting like Percy Thrower :D . But if i do come upon it elsewhere i will surly send you some.
Cheers mate, just do what my old man used to if he wanted cuttings, he would kneel down and pretend to tie his shoe lace, whilst taking cuttings at the same time :D :D :D :D :D
Singeblister
19-08-2006, 16:06
Thanks that looks like the one , I shall have to go and get some berrys when I get back , I go away for 2 weeks tomorrow.
As for the cutting I could get you one PM me your address and I will see what i can do , would have to find some kind of plastic tube to post it in i suppose :)
Would it need roots or just stem cutting ?
Moonraker
19-08-2006, 16:16
Thanks that looks like the one , I shall have to go and get some berrys when I get back , I go away for 2 weeks tomorrow.
As for the cutting I could get you one PM me your address and I will see what i can do , would have to find some kind of plastic tube to post it in i suppose :)
Would it need roots or just stem cutting ?You should find that they send out adventitious roots at leaf nodes as they creep across the ground. Take a cutting with one of these should take well when planted. Keep the roots moist but not soaked (in a plastic bag). Cut stems down to around 150 mm to reduce respiration, especially if it is hot.