The image, above, shows the full Dewberry plant (Rubuscaesius) whilst in flower, right. Also shown is a close-up
of the edible fruit (top right) as well as images of two dewberry
plants bearing fruit..
| Common Name: Dewberry |
| Scientific Name: Rubus caesius |
| Other Names: European Dewberry |
| Family: Rosaceae |
| Range: Europe, including Britain, from Scandanavia south and east to Spain, Siberia and W. Asia. |
Physical Characteristics
Rubus caesius is a deciduous shrub, growing to 20cm (8 in) by 1m (3 ft 3 in) in size. It is hardy to zone 5 and is not frost tender. The plant flowers from June to September and the fruit ripen from July to September. The flowers are hermaphrodite and are pollinated by bees, flies, beetles. The flowers are also apomictic (they can reproduce asexually).
|
| Edible Parts: Fruit |
 Edibility Rating: 3 
|
 Known Hazards: None Known.
|
Welcome to the summary page for FabulousFusionFood's Wild Food guide to Dewberry along with all the Dewberry containing recipes presented on this site, with 0 recipes in total.
This is a continuation of an entire series of pages that will, I hope, allow my visitors to better navigate this site. As well as displaying recipes by name, country and region of origin I am now planning a whole series of pages where recipes can be located by meal type and main ingredient. This page gives a listing of all the Cornish recipes added to this site.
These recipes, all contain Dewberry as a major wild food ingredient.
Dewberry, Rubus caesius, (also known as European Dewberry) is an small bramble, closely related to blackberries, belonging to the Eubatus sub-genus of the Rubus (blackberry) genus of the Rosaceae (rose) family of flowering plants. It is native to Europe, with a native habitat that extends from from Scandinavia south and east to Spain, Siberia and Western Asia. The plant is a deciduous shrub with tri-lobed leaves that typically grows to 20cm by 1m in size. The plant prefers sandy soils and is most commonly found in coastal areas, but can be cultivated in any well-drained loamy soil. The plant bears new leaves in early spring, with hermaphrodite flowers (that are self fertile) developing from June to September that ripen to fruit from July to September. The leaves often turn ruddy in winter and may be borne all winter long. Overall, the plant looks like a scraggy blackberry and the fruit have only a few drupes as compared with blackberries.
The fruit and leaves of the plant are edible, with the leaves being used either fresh or dried as an herbal tea. The fruit themselves are succulent and edible. However, they are very tart, even when completely ripe and may not suit all tastes. Older books suggest they are turned into jams and sauces, but if you like tart flavours (as I do) they also make excellent substitutes for blackberries in cobblers, muffins and pies. It should be noted that, in North America, several related species are called 'dewberries' an these tend to have larger and sweeter fruit than Rubus caesius. However, Rubus caesius is the true 'dewberry', the name being derived from the waxy droplets found on the deep, almost black, purple which was seen as 'dew'. As a result, in some lights they can appear to be sky blue in colour (hence the Latin name of caesius for 'pale blue'). It's the tartness of the fruit that can lead to variable reports of the edibility of this species.
As well as the fruit, the leaves can be dried and used as a tea substitute.
[2]. Huxley, A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992
[3]. Tanaka, T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World.
[4]. Lim T.K. Edible Medicinal And Non-Medicinal Plants, Vols 1–8.
[5]. Thomas, G. S. Perennial Garden Plants
[6]. Milner, E. Trees of Britain and Ireland
[7]. Rose, F. & O'Reilly, C. The Wild Flower Key (Revised Edition) – How to identify wild plants, trees and shrubs in Britain and Ireland
[8]. Streeter, D. & Garrard, I. The Wild Flowers of the British Isles
[9]. Clapham, A.R.; Tutin, T.G. & Moore, D.M. Flora of the British Isles
[10]. Phillips, R. Mushrooms
[10]. Phillips, R. Mushrooms
[11]. Jordan, P. & Wheeler, S. The Complete Book of Mushrooms: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Edible Mushrooms
[12]. Bunker, F.; Brodie, J.A.; Maggs, C.A. & Bunker, A. Seaweeds of Britain and Ireland.
[13]. Facciola, S. Cornucopia — A Source Book of Edible Plants
This is a continuation of an entire series of pages that will, I hope, allow my visitors to better navigate this site. As well as displaying recipes by name, country and region of origin I am now planning a whole series of pages where recipes can be located by meal type and main ingredient. This page gives a listing of all the Cornish recipes added to this site.
These recipes, all contain Dewberry as a major wild food ingredient.
Dewberry, Rubus caesius, (also known as European Dewberry) is an small bramble, closely related to blackberries, belonging to the Eubatus sub-genus of the Rubus (blackberry) genus of the Rosaceae (rose) family of flowering plants. It is native to Europe, with a native habitat that extends from from Scandinavia south and east to Spain, Siberia and Western Asia. The plant is a deciduous shrub with tri-lobed leaves that typically grows to 20cm by 1m in size. The plant prefers sandy soils and is most commonly found in coastal areas, but can be cultivated in any well-drained loamy soil. The plant bears new leaves in early spring, with hermaphrodite flowers (that are self fertile) developing from June to September that ripen to fruit from July to September. The leaves often turn ruddy in winter and may be borne all winter long. Overall, the plant looks like a scraggy blackberry and the fruit have only a few drupes as compared with blackberries.
The fruit and leaves of the plant are edible, with the leaves being used either fresh or dried as an herbal tea. The fruit themselves are succulent and edible. However, they are very tart, even when completely ripe and may not suit all tastes. Older books suggest they are turned into jams and sauces, but if you like tart flavours (as I do) they also make excellent substitutes for blackberries in cobblers, muffins and pies. It should be noted that, in North America, several related species are called 'dewberries' an these tend to have larger and sweeter fruit than Rubus caesius. However, Rubus caesius is the true 'dewberry', the name being derived from the waxy droplets found on the deep, almost black, purple which was seen as 'dew'. As a result, in some lights they can appear to be sky blue in colour (hence the Latin name of caesius for 'pale blue'). It's the tartness of the fruit that can lead to variable reports of the edibility of this species.
As well as the fruit, the leaves can be dried and used as a tea substitute.
References:
[1]. David Evans Notes from field observations, tastings and cookery experiments.[2]. Huxley, A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992
[3]. Tanaka, T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World.
[4]. Lim T.K. Edible Medicinal And Non-Medicinal Plants, Vols 1–8.
[5]. Thomas, G. S. Perennial Garden Plants
[6]. Milner, E. Trees of Britain and Ireland
[7]. Rose, F. & O'Reilly, C. The Wild Flower Key (Revised Edition) – How to identify wild plants, trees and shrubs in Britain and Ireland
[8]. Streeter, D. & Garrard, I. The Wild Flowers of the British Isles
[9]. Clapham, A.R.; Tutin, T.G. & Moore, D.M. Flora of the British Isles
[10]. Phillips, R. Mushrooms
[10]. Phillips, R. Mushrooms
[11]. Jordan, P. & Wheeler, S. The Complete Book of Mushrooms: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Edible Mushrooms
[12]. Bunker, F.; Brodie, J.A.; Maggs, C.A. & Bunker, A. Seaweeds of Britain and Ireland.
[13]. Facciola, S. Cornucopia — A Source Book of Edible Plants
The alphabetical list of all Dewberry recipes on this site follows, (limited to 100 recipes per page). There are 0 recipes in total:
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Page 1 of 1