Narrative
Some time after we cleared our lot more than 25 years ago, I noticed a small blackberry looking vine about 18 inches long, about as big around as the cord for a computer mouse or smaller with one large blackberry on it. It was growing in the midst of a patch of dead wild blackberry vines (died from rust, as it was described to me) in a wild hedge I left as a border along the back of our 1 and 1/2 acre yard. Since it was out of the ordinary compared to everything else on the lot, I transplanted it from the back of our lot to a chain link fence just behind our utility room that enclosed a small area in which we initially kept dogs. Since the root system was small and no bigger around than the vine, it seemed that the plant must have been a seedling. No other plant like it has grown anywhere else on our property or around it, and nothing else like it came up where I dug it up. Both the vines and the fruit are very much larger than the native dewberries here, but the rooting tips of the vines lead me to think this may be some sort of blackberry/dewberry hybrid. It has re-sprouted each year from the same spot I transplanted it to 25 years ago. In addition to rooting where the tips of the vines touch the ground, sprouts also come up from the roots a few feet outward from the base of the plant. The flowers are white, many with a pinkish hue to them. The berries are quite large, as you can see from the attached photo. The vines produce large crops, I have never fertilized them and don't tend them, except for removing dead vines each year and training and tying growing vines to supports. They have never contracted any kind of disease. I have given a few young vines to friends and neighbors over the years, all of whom are amazed at the productivity. I measured one trailing vine a few years ago, and it was about 18 feet long. I don't know how long the longest one may have gotten. I have 9 vines now, and I picked 135 lbs. from them this past spring before I gave up. They begin ripening in May. So, perhaps commercial blackberry growers could extend their season by adding these to their crop of later blooming blackberries, unless there already are early blooming blackberries available to them. I freeze them in one gallon freezer bags. Needless to say, the vines do very well in our Louisiana climate. I have never seen dewberry vines of any kind for sale here (raspberries, yes), but one of the previous owners of our property may have bought or dug a specimen somewhere else, perhaps during one of their leisure travels. However, as mentioned, this vine did seem to be a seedling. In looking through the selection of blackberries, raspberries, etc. at Corvallis on your web site, this vine seems similar to, but not exactly like, a blackberry/dewberry hybrid listed as "Mammoth." Mike Bourgeois comments September 2014.