Difference between revisions of "Boysenberry" - New World Encyclopedia

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Although its parentage is somewhat uncertain, it generally is considered to be a cross between a [[loganberry]], a [[raspberry]], and the [[Rubus ursinus|Pacific blackberry]] (Smith 2008; Bender and Bender 2005; Herbst 2001; <ref name="WiseGeek">. or (blackberry and the logonberry or raspberry (ORBC).
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Although its parentage is somewhat uncertain, it generally is considered to be a cross between a [[loganberry]], a [[raspberry]], and the [[Rubus ursinus|Pacific blackberry]] (Smith 2008; Bender and Bender 2005; Herbst 2001; or (blackberry and the logonberry or raspberry (ORBC).
  
 
It is given the scientific name *** or ****
 
It is given the scientific name *** or ****

Revision as of 00:43, 7 May 2008

Rubus ursinus x idaeus[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae
Genus: Rubus
Subgenus: Rubus
Species: R. ursinus x idaeus
Binomial name
Rubus ursinus x idaeus

Boysenberry is the common name for a hybrid plant of the Rubus genus derived from a blackberry and characterized bearing an very large fruit (8.0g), with large seeds and a deep maroon color. It is generally considered a cross between ***

The term boysenberry also is used for the fruit of this plant, which is aggregate fruit of numerous drupelets


Although its parentage is somewhat uncertain, it generally is considered to be a cross between a loganberry, a raspberry, and the Pacific blackberry (Smith 2008; Bender and Bender 2005; Herbst 2001; or (blackberry and the logonberry or raspberry (ORBC).

It is given the scientific name *** or ****


Description

Rubus is a genus of plant in the family Rosaceae. Rosaceae is one of the largest families of flowering plants with about 3,400 species, including apples, berries, peaches, plums, cherries, the hawthorn tree, the mountain ash, and many others.

Ripening blackberry fruit

The genus Rubus is a very complex one, containing 13 subgenera. There are over three hundred known species. The raspberries, blackberries, and dewberries are common, widely distributed members of the genus, and loganberries and boysenberries are also members of the genus. Most of these plants have woody stems with prickles like roses; spines, bristles, and gland-tipped hairs are also common in the genus. The blackberries, as well as various other Rubus species with mounding or rambling growth habits, are often called brambles. However, this name is not used for those like the raspberry that grow as upright canes, or for trailing or prostrate species such as most dewberries, or various low-growing boreal, arctic, or alpine species. In various parts of the United States, wild blackberries are sometimes called "black-caps," a term more commonly used for black raspberries, Rubus occidentalis.

The Rubus fruit, sometimes called a bramble fruit, is an aggregate of drupelets. A drupe is a fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin; and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a shell (the pit or stone) of hardened endocarp with a seed inside. These fruits develop from a single carpel, and mostly from flowers with superior ovaries. The definitive characteristic of a drupe is that the hard, lignified stone (or pit) is derived from the ovary wall of the flower. In an aggregate fruit composed of small, individual drupes, each individual is termed a drupelet. Bramble fruits (such as the blackberry or the raspberry) are aggregates of drupelets. The fruit of blackberries and raspberries comes from a single flower whose pistil is made up of a number of free carpels.

Blackberry is the common name for any of the various perennial plants of the genus Rubus and subgenus Rubus (or Eubatus) with compound leaves and bearing aggregate fruit of numerous drupelets ripening to a black or dark purple fruit. The term also is used for the fruit of these plants, which is called a "blackberry," although technically it involves numerous drupelets around a central core. Blackberries also are called brambles.

Plants in the Rubus genus have prickles like roses and are often called brambles; this name is most often used for the blackberry and similar fruits that are also of rambling habit, and not used for those like the raspberry that grow as upright canes. The fruit of Rubus plants is called bramble fruit and is an aggregate of drupelets.

The genus Rubus also includes raspberries, although in raspberries and other species of the subgenus Idaeobatus, the drupelets separate from the core when picked, leaving a hollow fruit, whereas in blackberries the drupelets stay attached to the core. However, as common names, the terms raspberry and blackberry are used imprecisely. For example, Rubus fruticosus in subgenus Rubus is both know as blackberry and bramble raspberry.

In the blackberry, the drupelets are attached to an elongated core that is removed with the fruit. In raspberries, the drupelets separate from the core when picked, such that the aggregate fruit has a hollow core.

History

It was first cultivated on Rudolph Boysen's farm in northern California. Walter Knott was the first to commercially cultivate it in southern California.[2] His family's small restaurant and pie business eventually grew into Knott's Berry Farm.

In the late 1920s, George M. Darrow of the USDA began tracking down reports it had encountered of a large, reddish-purple berry that had been grown on a farm by a man named Rudolph Boysen.[2] He enlisted the help of Walter Knott, a Southern California farmer who was known as a berry expert. Knott hadn't heard of the new berry, but he agreed to help Darrow in his search for the berry.

Knott's Berry Farm

File:Boysenberry-gate.jpg
The gates at Knott's Berry Farm feature boysenberries

Darrow and Knott learned soon after that Rudolph Boysen had abandoned his growing experiments several years earlier and sold his farm. Undaunted by this news, Darrow and Knott headed out to Boysen's old farm, on which they found several frail vines surviving in a field choked with weeds. They transplanted the vines to Knott's farm where he nurtured them back to fruit-bearing health. Walter Knott's began selling the berries at his farm stand in 1935 and soon noticed that people kept returning to buy the large tasty berries. When asked what they were called, Knott said, "Boysenberries," after their originator.[3] As their popularity grew, Mrs. Knott began making preserves which ultimately made Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California world famous.

Uses

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Bender, D. A., and A. E. Bender. 2005. A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198609612.
  • Herbst, S. T. 2001. The New Food Lover's Companion: Comprehensive Definitions of Nearly 6,000 Food, Drink, and Culinary Terms. Barron's Cooking Guide. Hauppauge, NY: Barron's Educational Series. ISBN 0764112589.


External links

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  1. Boysenberry Characteristics. Oregon Raspberry and Blackberry Commission. Retrieved 2008-02-22.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Oregon's Raspberries and Blackberries - History. Retrieved 2008-02-22.
  3. Knott's Berry Farms History. Retrieved 2008-02-22.