Medicinal Monday - Summer is for Berries - Blackcap Raspberry!

Summer is the season for berries...strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and the less common blackcap raspberry that most often grows in the wild. At first glance, you might mistake these berries that grow in the western part of the United States as blackberries, but unlike the solid center of a blackberry, the blackcap raspberry is hollow in the center. 

About Blackcap Raspberries

The Rubus family, of which blackcap raspberries are part has more than 2,000 naturally occurring and hybrid types. This shrub-like vine, called Rubus leucodermis has trailing stems (canes) with sharp prickles on it. The bark is red but as it matures, it turns a light bluish color because of a wax-like coating. The ovate-shaped leaves are covered in a soft whitish down and are sharply serrated. The leaves are green on top,  paler green on the bottom, and grow in alternate clusters of 3 and 5 leaflets. 

The crown of this shrub is perennial however, the canes or stems are biennial, and new stems do not produce flowers the first year. In the second year, up to five white to pink flowers form on lateral shoots on the canes. The canes often grow downward and take root and form tip layers that become new plants. As the flowers mature red druplets or berries appear.  When the fruit turns a dark purple they are ripe. In the wild, blackcap raspberries can be found in full sun or dappled in sand, clay, and other types of soil that have poor drainage. They can be found growing as far north as Alaska, down through California, and east to Utah and Montana. You will find them at the edge of mixed evergreen forests, and in rocky and open places growing up to six feet.

Culinary Uses

Who can resist a ripe delicious berry any time of year? Many Native American communities and the First People of Canada, traditionally ate the berries raw, dried them for use in the winter, made tea or a beverage from them, cooked them into jams, and put them in stews. Sometimes the berries were mashed and dried in square frames and stored for winter. Some Indigenous communities ate the young leaves and sprouts. One other interesting use of this shrub was to make a purple-reddish dye from the berries.

Medicinal Uses

The most common use of this plant was to make an infusion of leaves and the root and take it for an upset stomach and to treat diarrhea. Traditionally the Shoshoni made a poultice of the stems and applied a powderlike mixture to wounds and cuts. The Thompson made an infusion of the roots and drank it to treat coughs, colds, and influenza.

Did You Know...

They were introduced for sale by David Douglas in 1829.

Blackcap raspberries have a high concentration of antioxidants, including ellagic acid that has been associated with the death of cancer cells in lab tests.

Other names for this plant include whitebark raspberry, blue raspberry, thimbleberries, and western raspberry.

The flowers attract hummingbirds, butterflies, bees, and other pollinators. The fruit is eaten by birds and many small mammals.