Tayberry | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Genus | Rubus |
Hybrid parentage | Rubus fruticosus x R. idaeus |
Cultivar | 'Tayberry' |
Origin | Scotland, 1979 |
The tayberry ( Rubus fruticosus × R. idaeus) is a cultivated shrub in the genus Rubus of the family Rosaceae patented in 1979 as a cross between a blackberry and a red raspberry, and named after the River Tay in Scotland.
The fruit is sweeter, much larger, and more aromatic than that of the loganberry, itself a blackberry and red raspberry cross. The tayberry is grown for its edible fruits which can be eaten raw or cooked, but the fruit do not pick easily by hand and cannot be machine harvested, so they have not become a commercially grown berry crop. As a domestic crop, this plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. [1]
The mature tayberry fruit –reddish-purple when ripe –is cone-shaped, and can be up to 4 cm (1+1⁄2 in) long. Similar to the blackberry, the receptacle (the "core") remains in the berry when it is picked. The plant has a growth habit similar to that of the blackberry. Fruits grow on short laterals on prickly canes 1.8 to 2.1 m (6 to 7 ft) long. [2] The cropping period is long, from early mid- to late-summer.
Having a strong flavor, the tayberry is less acidic than the loganberry. [2]
The tayberry was patented by Derek L. Jennings of Dundee, Scotland. It was intended to be an improvement on the loganberry, which is a chance hexaploid hybrid that received four copies of the blackberry genome and two copies of the raspberry genome. Jennings aimed to replicate the loganberry's ancestry but with improved blackberry and raspberry parents, starting with the American 'Aurora' blackberry which was superior to the Aughinbaugh’s blackberry that was one of the parents of the loganberry. After 5 years of effort, he developed a suitable raspberry and crossed it with the 'Aurora' blackberry. [3] The tayberry was named after the river Tay in Scotland and released in 1979 by the Scottish Horticultural Research Institute, Invergowrie, Scotland. [4]
The tayberry will grow reasonably well in many soils. Tayberries produce the most berries when in full sun and in well-drained soil with a high amount of organic materials. Supporting the canes is not crucial, but it will help prevent diseases by improving the air flow between branches. Tayberries should be ready to harvest in early July, depending on the type. [5] Frost is rarely a problem, as tayberries flower late in the season; plants need protection below −26 °C (−15 °F). Like many plant hybrids, tayberries show good disease resistance, and the plant has been shown to be resistant to late yellow rust. [6]
Tayberries are propagated by planting canes; the recommended time is mid-October, though any time up to mid-March may work if soil is not frozen or waterlogged. [5] Scientists have also demonstrated the successful cold storage of tayberry tissue cultures for maintenance of in vitro collections of plant tissues. [7]
The tayberry can be eaten fresh or used for making jams, [8] pies, wine, or beer.
While it has been reported that a commercial yield up to 27 tonnes per hectare (12 short tons per acre) of berries can be produced, [2] tayberries are very soft when fully ripe, so they cannot be harvested by machine. [9] This has hindered their success as a commercial crop. Tayberries are mainly grown by allotment holders, [10] artisans and back garden growers.
A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit, although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples of berries in the culinary sense are strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, white currants, blackcurrants, and redcurrants. In Britain, soft fruit is a horticultural term for such fruits.
Rubus is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, subfamily Rosoideae, with over 1,350 species, commonly known as brambles.
The blackberry is an edible fruit produced by many species in the genus Rubus in the family Rosaceae, hybrids among these species within the subgenus Rubus, and hybrids between the subgenera Rubus and Idaeobatus. The taxonomy of blackberries has historically been confused because of hybridization and apomixis, so that species have often been grouped together and called species aggregates.
The dewberries are a group of species in the genus Rubus, section Rubus, closely related to the blackberries. They are small trailing brambles with aggregate fruits, reminiscent of the raspberry, but are usually purple to black instead of red.
The blackcurrant, also known as black currant or cassis, is a deciduous shrub in the family Grossulariaceae grown for its edible berries. It is native to temperate parts of central and northern Europe and northern Asia, where it prefers damp fertile soils. It is widely cultivated both commercially and domestically.
The boysenberry is a cross between the European raspberry, European blackberry, American dewberry, and loganberry.
Rubus chamaemorus is a species of flowering plant in the rose family Rosaceae, native to cool temperate regions, alpine and Arctic tundra and boreal forest. This herbaceous perennial produces amber-colored edible fruit similar to the blackberry. English common names include cloudberry, Nordic berry, bakeapple, knotberry and knoutberry, aqpik or low-bush salmonberry, and averin or evron.
The raspberry is the edible fruit of several plant species in the genus Rubus of the rose family, most of which are in the subgenus Idaeobatus. The name also applies to these plants themselves. Raspberries are perennial with woody stems.
Rubus idaeus is a red-fruited species of Rubus native to Europe and northern Asia and commonly cultivated in other temperate regions.
Rubus spectabilis, the salmonberry, is a species of bramble in the rose family Rosaceae, native to the west coast of North America from west-central Alaska to California, inland as far as Idaho. Like many other species in the genus Rubus, the salmonberry plant bears edible fruit, typically yellow-orange or red in color, resembling raspberries in appearance.
The loganberry is a hybrid of the North American blackberry and the European raspberry, accidentally bred in 1881 by James Harvey Logan, for whom they are named. They are cultivated for their edible fruit.
The marionberry is a cultivar of blackberry released in 1956 by the USDA Agricultural Research Service breeding program in cooperation with Oregon State University. It is named after Marion County, Oregon, where the berry was bred and tested extensively in the mid-20th century.
Rubus phoenicolasius is an Asian species of raspberry in the rose family, native to China, Japan, and Korea.
Rubus occidentalis is a species of Rubus native to eastern North America. Its common name black raspberry is shared with other closely related species. Other names occasionally used include bear's eye blackberry, black cap, black cap raspberry, and scotch cap.
The raspberry beetle is a species of beetle in the fruitworm family Byturidae. It is a major pest that is widespread in north-central Europe, affecting raspberry, blackberry and loganberry plants.
The youngberry is a complex hybrid between three different berry species from the genus Rubus of the rose family: raspberry, blackberry, and dewberry. The berries of the plant are eaten fresh or used to make juice, jam, and in recipes.
Rubus armeniacus, the Himalayan blackberry or Armenian blackberry, is a species of Rubus in the blackberry group Rubus subgenus Rubus series Discolores Focke. It is native to Armenia and northern Iran, and widely invasive elsewhere. Both its scientific name and origin have been the subject of much confusion, with much of the literature referring to it as either Rubus procerus or Rubus discolor, and often mistakenly citing its origin as western European. Flora of North America, published in 2014, considers the taxonomy unsettled, and tentatively uses the older name Rubus bifrons.
Rubus ursinus is a North American species of blackberry or dewberry, known by the common names California blackberry, California dewberry, Douglas berry, Pacific blackberry, Pacific dewberry and trailing blackberry.
Rubus tricolor is an evergreen prostrate shrub, native to southwestern China. Leaves are dark green above, pale green below, and stems have red bristles. It has white flowers in summer and edible red fruit. It grows approximately 0.3 m (0.98 ft) high and usually forming a vigorously spreading, dense mat. In cultivation, it is mainly used as groundcover. Common names include Chinese bramble, groundcover bramble, creeping bramble, Korean raspberry, Himalayan bramble, and groundcover raspberry. In Chinese, it is called 三色莓.
Elwyn Marshall Meader was an American botanist and plant scientist. Over the course of his career, Meader developed over 50 new strains of plum, peach, squash, rutabaga, sweet corn, melon, watermelon, salad bean, pod bean, pepper, pumpkin, nectarine, bush cherry, kiwi fruit, persimmon, cranberry, raspberry, and blueberry. He developed the Miss Kim Lilac from seeds of a wild lilac bush he found in the mountains of Korea and decided to name it after "all the Miss Kims in Korea".
Media related to Tayberries at Wikimedia Commons