Autumn Watch: bramble

Bramble
/WTML
eld
Steven Highfi
Autumn Watch: bramble
Bramble is a vigorous, thorny scrambling shrub. The long, arching shoots can grow up to
2.5m in length and will root easily where the tips touch the soil.
The flowers can be white or pink and will appear from May. The edible fruit (blackberry) start
green through to red and deep purple and finally turn black when ripe.
Where to record
When to record
Bramble is a familiar sight and will grow almost
anywhere throughout the UK.
When blackberries ripen can vary hugely depending
on what the temperatures were like earlier in the
year (affecting flowering date) and where you live.
It is commonly found in woodland, hedges, scrub
and wasteland.
What to record
Bramble fruit ripe: record the date on which you
first see that blackberries are ripe. They may ripen
very quickly, be sure you check the same area at
least once a week.
Birds eating the fruit should not always be taken
as an indication of ripeness. The blackberries
should be fully coloured black. Please also try
the ‘squish test’- the fruit should squash easily
between fingertips and no longer be hard.
Blackberries will begin to ripen from mid-July but
may be as late as mid-September.
Why bramble?
Bramble has been popular with foragers for years.
It is easily identifiable and volunteers have been
recording the first sightings of ripe fruit since the
start of the Nature’s Calendar project in 2000.
It will be interesting to see how the first ripe dates
this year compare with previous years.
There is some evidence that generally trees and
shrubs are fruiting earlier than in the past since
flowering is now earlier. We need more years of data
to confirm this.
Our climate is changing; climate change will produce
some winners, who are well adapted to change, and
some losers, who cannot adapt quickly enough. Long
term monitoring of species like bramble will help
scientists gain a greater understanding of this issue,
and provide policymakers with hard evidence.
Pete Holmes/WTML
Fabulous facts
• Ripe, juicy blackberries are traditionally used in
pies, crumbles, wines, jams, jellies and vinegar.
• There are around 400 microspecies of wild
blackberry growing in the UK.
• Strong ale brewed from blackberries, malt and
hops was popular in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Blackberries
• Blackberries are thought to have health
benefits for women due to their high levels of
phytoestrogens.
Casandra Kociak /WTM
L
Not to be confused with...
Wild raspberries also produce aggregate
fruits, meaning they are composed of
many tiny individual fruits or ‘drupelets’.
They can all be a similar colour at certain
times and ripen at similar times of the
year.
• Thorny brambles were used by the ancient
Britons in the same way we now use barbed wire.
• Gerard’s Herbal gives a remedy made from
blackberry leaves “for fastening the teeth back in”.
There are some differences to help
identification. When a ripe raspberry is
picked it is red and there is a hollow within
the fruit. When a ripe blackberry is picked
it is black and the soft white core remains
inside the fruit.
• There are hundreds of species which use bramble
at different times of the year: nesting birds value
its thorny protection, insects use it as a source
of pollen and many species of bird and mammal
welcome the fruit as a food source.
ildlife.co
northeastw
.uk
Dewberries, another close relative,
resemble blackberries but tend to
have fewer, larger individual fruits or
‘drupelets’. Their fruit surface is waxy
rather than shiny and their stems tend
to scramble along the ground rather than
being tall and arching.
• The fruit of the bramble is not a true berry botanically it is termed an aggregate
fruit, composed of many tiny fruits known
as drupelets.
Dewberrie
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Wikimedia com
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Wild raspb
Recording tips
Once you have seen a sign of autumn, please record it! Remember that you need to register on the
Nature’s Calendar website first.
Registration and recording: naturescalendar.org.uk
Please choose somewhere you visit regularly (at least weekly) to record your signs of autumn. This helps to ensure
that you spot when something happens for the first time.
The Woodland Trust, Kempton Way, Grantham, Lincolnshire NG31 6LL.
The Woodland Trust is a charity registered in England and Wales no. 294344 and in Scotland no. SC038885. A non-profit making company
limited by guarantee. Registered in England no. 1982873. The Woodland Trust logo is a registered trademark.
Nature’s Calendar is part of the Woodland Trust.
8639 07/16