Pacific Northwest Blackberry Plant Varieties

Pacific blackberries

• This native berry has the longest blooming and harvesting season; they can be found blooming from April to August. The Pacific blackberry shrub can be identified by its large terminal leaves relative to others on each branch and berries that are purplish-black and about one-inch long.

Himalayan blackberries

• West of the Cascade mountain range, the Himalayan blackberry is common. This berry forms on large deciduous brambles that can be identified by their slightly pink flowers.

Santiam blackberry

• This berry is not well known, but is presumed to be a cross between the native Pacific blackberry and the loganberry and figures prominently in the lineage of the berries that we are familiar with. It has been used for further development of newer hybrid berries with properties of the loganberry but flavors of blackberry.

Chehalem blackberries

• Chehalem blackberries are small berries that were developed in 1936 as a cross between the Himalayan and santiam blackberries. These berries are not readily available roadside, but they might be found in frozen blackberry products because they are small but retain their flavor well.

Marionberry

• Marionberries are named for Marion County, where they were developed as a cross between the native Chehalem and Olallie varieties in the mid-20th century. They are generally ripe between early July and late August and are the most common commercial blackberries. Marionberries are slightly reddish and can be found in the wild but not as often as the Himalayan variety.

Kotata berries

• Kotata berries were developed to be hardier than the popular marionberry. Actually a cross between two hybrids, they have properties of Pacific blackberries and boysenberries. The kotata’s intense flavor makes them stand out from other blackberries. They were introduced by the USDA in 1984 as a unique named blackberry cultivar, but they have been in production since 1951.

Evergreen thornless blackberry

• This blackberry is grown commercially throughout the Pacific Northwest, but it originated in England. Usually, evergreen thornless are labeled simply as “blackberry” when sold at a grocery. Evergreen thornless are ripe in late August to early September and can be identified by their deep black glossy appearance.

Newer berries

• Several newer varieties have been developed by the USDA blackberry program. These include obsidian, nightfall, black pearl, black diamond, siskiyou and metolious. These varieties have not achieved the same level of popularity as earlier developed varieties, like marionberries.