Blackberry varieties /

Douglass blackberry variety

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Highly vigorous slightly thorny old cultivar with very strong canes

Rubus subgenus Rubus Watson 'Douglass'

Originated from a cross of Sander x Lawrence

Variety denomination - 'Douglass'

Douglass is the parent for Metolius

Plants are slightly thorny

Bushes have trailing canes

Fruit weight is 5 g

Berries have a conical shape

Fruiting habit - floricane fruiting (summer-bearing)

Flowering on floricanes starts in the third week of May

Ripening date (regular) - second week of July

Productivity is 5 kg per plant

Soluble solids - 13.2%

Acidity - 1.56%

Cold hardiness is moderate

Heat tolerance is low

Patent US Plant 8,423 dated October 18, 1993

Current status - obsolete or rarely used

Recommended replacement - Columbia Sunrise

Country of origin - United States

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Douglass is sufficiently old and highly vigorous blackberry variety, selected from controlled hybridization in 1985 in the Oregon, US. The distinctive feature of these plants is very large diameter of the canes (10 mm in midpoint, 15 mm at the base). Douglass is nominally thornless, but the lower part of the canes contains small, soft incipient type spines similar to those found on raspberry canes. Canes are creeping, long, usually 3-4 m, occasionally 5 m. Each plant has 6-10 canes per crown.
Fruit clusters are medium large, borne on long stout stems which facilitate easy picking. Flower fertility is high and fruit druplets tend to fill out the berries completely. First flowers, which have white color, appear in the second week of May.
Fruit of Douglass ripens in mid-July about the same time as world-known Marion. The harvest period is about 20-28 days duration. The fruit varies in shape from bluntly cone shaped to bluntly pointed cylindrical. The length of the fruit usually exceeds its diameter by about 40% (28 mm length, 20 mm width). Fruit are medium in weight, 4-6 g avg., medium firm, glossy black color. Productivity compares with Marion.
Plants are moderately resistant to blackberry leaf and cane spot.
Douglass have survived winter temperatures of minus 15 C.