Rubus Spectabilis - Cultivation and Uses

Cultivation and Uses

Salmonberries are edible and share the fruit structure of the raspberry, with the fruit pulling away from its receptacle. Books often call the fruit "insipid" but depending on ripeness and site, they are good eaten raw and when processed into jam, candy, jelly and wine. They were an important food for indigenous peoples. Traditionally, the berries were eaten with salmon or mixed with oolichan grease or salmon roe. They were not dried because of their high moisture content.

It is widely grown as an ornamental plant for its flowers. A double-flowered form was discovered in at the mouth of the Duckabush River, Jefferson County, Washington, around May 1, 1961, by Dr. R. C. Creelman of Bremerton, Washington. This has been given the cultivar name 'Olympic Double' or 'Olympic'. Another double salmonberry was found by Phyllis Munday of Vancouver, British Columbia, but neither the date nor the site has been determined. This double may be confused in gardens with 'Olympic Double'.

It has escaped cultivation and become naturalized in parts of northwestern Europe, including Great Britain, Ireland and the Faroe Islands.

Salmonberry is easily grown from layering, basal sprouting, rhizomes, root cuttings, and hardwood cuttings. Small offshoots growing from the parent plant under four feet tall are easily transplanted. Branches that touch the ground tend to root, and they can be separated from the parent plant. Hardwood cuttings should be 1-2.5 cm in diameter and 45 cm or more in length with at least three nodes. Rooting invariably occurs at the base of a cutting and at nodes with leaf buds. Store hardwood cuttings over winter in damp sawdust or peat moss; this promotes callusing and prevents desiccation. As with hardwood cuttings of other species, vigorous rooting can be enhanced in Rubus species by using a liquid rooting hormone and burying the cuttings in damp wood shavings.

Salmonberry can be grown from fresh seed. Collect the fruits when ripe (they are orange or red). Extract seeds by macerating in water and floating off the pulp and empty seeds. Seed should be planted in the fall. If seeds are to be stored, they should be dried. Seeds will keep for several years at 5 °C. A warm stratification of 20–30 °C is necessary for spring-sown seeds, although fall sowing provides best germination. Germination is improved if seeds are scarified with sulfuric acid for 20–60 minutes or with a 1% solution of sodium hypochlorite for seven days prior to cold stratification. Seeds need 90 days of cold stratification at 36–41 °F to break seed dormancy. Sow in ground in drills, cover lightly with soil, and mulch over winter. Seeds per kilogram: 315,255.

• Mature fruit in Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest

• Salmonberry in hand

• Colander of Salmonberries

• Salmonberry about to be eaten

• Salmonberries picked on Orcas Island, Washington