Topic: Rasp-ish-berries

[trojanrabbit]

Hi folks,
Anybody out there any good with distinguishing subtle variants of fruits?

Took the first batch of raspberries last night from the canes growing happily untended at the edge of my plot - very tasty and I reckon on having another small punnet tommorrow or Friday. :P ;D

I noticed a discrepancy between fruit on different canes though, some canes were bearing typical raspberries; many small, close-set, matt drooplets with small hairs, forming a slightly elongate cluster generally hanging down below below/between leaves.
Meanwhile other canes had fruit, born in the same manner, raspberry coloured, but much more like typical wild blackberries in shape; a smaller number of larger, more discrete, shiny drooplets, with very few hairs.
Furthermore, there is a distinct difference on the plate - both nice but the shiny ones are sweeter with stronger flavour. 8)

Now I'm left in little doubt that I have two distinct subspecies here, potentially both self set, whose rhyzomes have spread and grown in among one another. Do you think the shiny blackberry-shaped-raspberries might be a wild cross?  Or might they be close to one of the old (ie. Victorian/Edwardian) cultivated rubus' which I have read a bit about but mostly have poor descriptions? - eg. Phenomenal Berry (what a fantastic name!)

All opinions and propagating advice would be welcome. :)

[jennym]

There are lots of varieties of raspberries out there, and lots of hybrid berries too. When you pick this shiny fruit, when ripe, does the core stay on the plant, or remain inside the fruit? Blackberries and hybrids like loganberries tend to have the core remaining in the fruit, whilst with raspberries (in the UK at least) the core remains on the plant when the ripe fruit is picked. This at least will help you to identify whether it is in fact a raspberry.

[trojanrabbit]

Thanks Jenny. Core stays on the plant, as for raspberry.

[jennym]

Could be Glen Lyon.