Blackberry

This big shrub grows up to 9 feet (2.7 meters) tall and lives for around 10 years. It is very susceptible to disease and insect infestation.

It has several knobbly, wavy stems covered in paper-thin, knobbly, black with white speckled bark, and the wood inside is dark brown.

The branches are long and thin with hundreds of twigs that and are covered with small amounts of large, slender, pointed, leaves with tattered edges. The leaves themselves are green and green, delicate and sticky.

In mid-summer it produces several small, pink blossoms with finger-like petals with a bell-shaped floral cup. They are very delicate and have a powerful scent that smells like old shoes.

In mid-autumn oval fruits ripen. The leathery crimson skin is stretchy and sweet and savoury, and the crunchy blood red flesh is salty and sour and sticky. The dark grey seed is tiny and sits at the end of the fruit.