Botanically, blackberries are not true berries, they are aggregate fruits forming from a single flower.
Blackberries are native to every continent except Antarctica, and there are up to 2,000 varieties, with more than 300 wild species in Europe alone. They can naturally hybridize and create new forms to adjust to climate, soil and other environmental factors.
The berries have been harvested since prehistoric times and have been used as food, medicinally and also as natural barriers due to their heavy growth and thorns - they were originally known as bramble or brambleberries (and still are in England).
Forensic analysis revealed that the the last meal of one of the best preserved bog people ever discovered, Haraldskaer Woman, who lived around 540 BC, was blackberries and millet.
Blackberries were prescribed in ancient Greece as an antidote for piles.
In medieval England, blackberries were considered unfit to eat after Michaelmas (September 29) as it was believed the Devil spat or urinated on them after that.
The first commercial plantings in the United States were made in Beverley, Massachusetts by a Captain Lovett.
Most commercial cultivation is limited to the United States. There are literally thousands of varieties, including an albino 'white blackberry,' and the dewberry, which bears a smaller fruit.
Michigan and New Jersey produce 66% of all the blueberries in the United States.
There are also red colored blackberries and sometimes they may be difficult to distinguish from raspberries. One sure way to tell them apart is that when the blackberry is picked it comes away from the plant with its core intact; when a raspberry is picked it leaves the core behind.
Blueberries are a good source of Vitamin C and fiber.
Batology is the study of blackberries.
Source http://www.foodreference.com/html/fblackberry.html
Blackberries are native to every continent except Antarctica, and there are up to 2,000 varieties, with more than 300 wild species in Europe alone. They can naturally hybridize and create new forms to adjust to climate, soil and other environmental factors.
The berries have been harvested since prehistoric times and have been used as food, medicinally and also as natural barriers due to their heavy growth and thorns - they were originally known as bramble or brambleberries (and still are in England).
Forensic analysis revealed that the the last meal of one of the best preserved bog people ever discovered, Haraldskaer Woman, who lived around 540 BC, was blackberries and millet.
Blackberries were prescribed in ancient Greece as an antidote for piles.
In medieval England, blackberries were considered unfit to eat after Michaelmas (September 29) as it was believed the Devil spat or urinated on them after that.
The first commercial plantings in the United States were made in Beverley, Massachusetts by a Captain Lovett.
Most commercial cultivation is limited to the United States. There are literally thousands of varieties, including an albino 'white blackberry,' and the dewberry, which bears a smaller fruit.
Michigan and New Jersey produce 66% of all the blueberries in the United States.
There are also red colored blackberries and sometimes they may be difficult to distinguish from raspberries. One sure way to tell them apart is that when the blackberry is picked it comes away from the plant with its core intact; when a raspberry is picked it leaves the core behind.
Blueberries are a good source of Vitamin C and fiber.
Batology is the study of blackberries.
Source http://www.foodreference.com/html/fblackberry.html