Friendly fire

Rubus idaeus, June 21, 2023

In fruit, Lincoln turnoff 9,800’, August 10, 2023

Common & scientific name

American red raspberry, Rubus idaeus

Family

Rose, Rosaceae

Location

Weller Curve, 9,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

The best place to find our delicious wild raspberries, which will bear fruit in August, is in disturbed places like roadside and below Shimer Peak (above Weller Lake), which burned in 1980.

According to a US Forest Service study, "American red raspberry allocates most of its energy to vegetative regeneration [as opposed to flowering and seed production] on recently disturbed sites with favorable growing conditions. With time, initially elevated nutrient levels decline, and shading increases. As growing conditions deteriorate, American red raspberry shifts its reproductive effort to the production of large numbers of seed.”

In other words, raspberry-eating time!