Salmonberry                          

   Rubus spectabilis

Pronounced ROO-bus spek-tah-BIH-lus, Rubus, derived from ruber, a latin word for red, is the genus of plants generally called brambles. The epithet spectabilis means spectacular due to Salmonberry’s showy flowers and fruits.  The common name Salmonberry is thought to have come from the natives’ fondness for eating the berries with salmon roe, but it could also be due to the orangy-pink color of the berries.

Rubus is a large genus with between 400 and 750 species.    The berries are actually aggregates of drupelets.  There are about 200 species native to North America.  In the Pacific Northwest, the three most important native species are Blackcap Raspberry, Salmonberry, and Thimbleberry.

This species grows to 12 feet (4m) from branching rhizomes, forming dense thickets.

The arching stems of Salmonberry have golden-brown, shedding bark, similar to Pacific Ninebark.  Salmonberry stems, although largely unarmed, can range from having scattered prickles to being very bristly.  Smaller twigs zigzag slightly from node to node.  Leaves have 3 sharply toothed leaflets, the lateral ones smaller and sometimes unequally lobed or divided.  Five-petalled flowers are a striking pink to reddish-purple.  The fruits are raspberry-like with a hollow core, ranging from yellow to orange-red.

 Salmonberries, being one of the earliest berries to ripen, were one of the most important foods for natives.  The berries are too watery to dry, so were usually eaten fresh in oolichan grease or with salmon or salmon eggs.  Reports vary on the berries’ flavor from “insipid” or “inferior” to “juicy with a very good flavor” or “tasty.”  It is likely that differences in taste are due to variations within the species or the relative ripeness of each berry.  Today the berries are sometimes made into jams, jellies, candy, or wine.  Young sprouts were also an important food for natives in early spring and summer; they were peeled, eaten raw or steamed.  Preparations of the bark were used on wounds, especially burns.

The pinkish-purple flowers of Salmonberry are attractive to Rufous Hummingbirds as they are migrating north.  The brambles rank at the very top of summer foods for wildlife, especially birds: grouse, pigeons, quail, grosbeaks, jays, robins, thrushes, towhees, waxwings, sparrows, to name just a few.  The berries are also popular with raccoons, opossums, skunks, foxes, squirrels, chipmunks and other rodents.  The leaves and stems are eaten extensively by deer and rabbits.  Bear, beaver and marmots eat fruit, bark and twigs.  Flowers are usually pollinated by insects.  These usually prickly plants make impenetrable thickets where small animals find secure cover.