Could someone tell me the roadsid common blackberry all over the Greater Vancouver area. As I was picking these most common blackberries yesterday, I came upon a different type of black colored berry, it is also thorny, but the leaves are laced like some of the japanese maple tree leaves, what is the name of this type of blackberry?
Most likely Rubus discolor, syn. Rubus procerus or the less common evergreen blackberry, Rubus laciniatus.
I'll vote for Rubus laciniatus (the cutleaf evergreen blackberry). I find it relatively often near my home in Burnaby.
Looking at the question again, I realize my answer may be misleading. First we are being asked the name of the common roadside blackberry and I know that to be Rubus discolor. The answer to the second question is Rubus laciniatus and I think this is the question Daniel is replying to also, so I agree with him. Having been in the Lower Mainland for 23 years, this year seems to be the best for flavour. The lack of moisture we've experienced in the last month has rendered them small this year, but I can't recall a prior year where the blackberries were this intensely flavoured. Rubus discolor is definitely more common here in Langley but no doubt the frequency of occurrence changes with location. Hope this helps.
Non-native blackberries Apparently Rubus armeniacus has replaced R. discolor as the accepted botanical name for the more common of the 2 non-native blackberries in coastal BC. http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/ben/ben230.html And by the way, if you're making jam, that's the one to pick. The fruit of the cut-leaf evergreen blackberry (R. laciniatus) don't fall apart during cooking, but hold together and float to the top of the jar. :-(
Harry, thank you for the update on nomenclature. Perhaps one day there will be a giant online database of all proposed changes for easy reference for those of us wanting to stay current... For example, take our native Labrador Tea (James Tea, Marsh Tea, Indian Tea, Tundra Tea, Wooly Tea, Bog Labrador Tea, Hudsons Bay Tea, Haida Tea). The latest change is from Ledum to Rhododendron: R. groenlandicum (Oeder) Kron & Jedd. Synonymy: Ledum groenlandicum Oeder; L. latifolium Jocq.; L. pacificum Small; L. palustre ssp. groenlandicum (Oeder) Hulten; L. latifolium var. globasum Mast, Gard. Chrln; L. palustre var. latifolium C.F. Ludw; L. canadense Lodd; L. groenlandicum var. aridaphilum D. Love Some organizations are slow to adopt these changes, further complicating matters. Again, I'll quote an example I'm familiar with, namely Rhododendron camtschaticum. Supposedly, it has been re-classified and is now no longer a rhododendron, but I have been unable to determine what it is now, who proposed the change, which peer group reviewed it and where this information was published. I should probably post this to the Rhododendron sub-forum, but it is relevant here to a certain extend.
Botanical names, synonyms and basic publication details can be found online in the International Plant Names Index. To go right to a form for entering botanical terms to search, query your favorite web search engine for "IPNI Query".
