Thimbleberry
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The Thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus) is a shrub related to the raspberry that produces a tart red composite fruit. Unlike most other members of the Rubus family, thimbleberry plants have no thorns. The canes grow as attractive, dense shrubs up to 5 feet (1.5 m) or more tall, often in large clumps which spread through the plant's rhizomes. The large palmate leaves are soft and fuzzy. Five-petaled white flowers are followed by berries which ripen to a bright red in mid to late summer.
In North America, thimbleberries are native to the Pacific Northwest, parts of the Rocky Mountains, and eastward to the Great Lakes region. They typically grow along roadsides and in forest clearings, commonly appearing as an early part of the ecological succession in clear cut and forest fire areas.
Thimbleberry fruits are larger, flatter, and softer than raspberries, and have many small seeds. Because the fruit is so soft, it does not pack or ship well, so thimbleberries are rarely cultivated commercially. However, wild thimbleberries make an excellent jam which is sold as a local delicacy in some parts of their range, notably in the Keweenaw Peninsula of Upper Michigan. Thimbleberry jam is easily made by combining equal volumes of berries and sugar and boiling the mixture for two minutes before packing it into jars.
Thimbleberry plants can be propagated most successfully by planting dormant rhizome segments, as well as from seeds or stem cuttings.
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