Thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus)

The Rose Family (Rosaceae)

Habitat

They grow in open sites, such as clearings, road edges, shorelines, and avalanche tracks. They also grow in open forests, especially red alder. Out at the arboretum, you can see them growing in places like the wildflower garden along the river trail and the wetlands area.

Leaves

The leaves are alternate and deciduous. They range from 3 - 8 inches and are at least as broad as long. They are palmately 5-lobed (maplelike) fine-toothed, soft, and fuzzy.

Flowers

The flower is large, up to 1.5 inches across. They grow in long-stemmed terminal clusters from 3 - 11 flowers. The petals are white, nearly round, and crinkly.

Fruit

Shallow domed, raspberry-like clusters of red, hairy druplets. Pojar and MacKinnon describe them as juicy with an insipid to sweet flavor depending on the growing site and personal taste. All the ones I have eaten are tasty. I find them to be delicate, velvety, and a tad gritty.

Daniel Mathews writes: “Fruits of the genus Rubus can all be divided up into raspberry and blackberries. A raspberry, when picked, is cup-shaped, pulling cleanly from its receptacle, or core. A blackberry pulls its receptacle with it. Both salmonberries and thimbleberries are raspberries by this definition, though neither tastes much like a garden raspberry.”

Bark

The stems are 4 - 7 feet, erect, woody, and thornless.

References

Mathews, Daniel. Cascade-Olympic Natural History. Raven Editions in conjunction with Portland Audubon Society, 1988.

Pojar, Jim, and Andy MacKinnon. Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast: Washington, Oregon, British Columbia and Alaska (Revised). B.C. Ministry of Forests and Lone Pine Publishing, 1994.

Quick Reference:

Height: 4 - 7 feet.
Leaves: Palmately 5-lobed, fine-toothed, soft and fuzzy.
Fruit: Raspberry-like clusters of red.
Habitat: Open sites, or open forests.
Photo Location:
Mt. Pisgah Arboretum
Mt. Pisgah Arboretum Plant List
Eugene, OR