Metolius blackberry variety
Thorny trailing blackberry variety with medium-sized, firm, uniform shaped berries from Oregon
Rubus subgenus Rubus Watson 'Metolius'
Variety denomination - 'Metolius'
Plants are 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 8000 kg from ha
Cold hardiness is moderate
Heat tolerance is low
Current status - obsolete or rarely used
Country of origin - United States
Agawam Amanda Anastasia Wyeberry Apache Arapaho Babycakes Bailey Big Daddy Black Butte Black Diamond Black Gem Black Jack Black Magic Black Pearl Black Satin Blakely Boysenberry Brazos Caddo Chesapeake Chester Thornless Cheyenne Chickasaw Chief Joseph Choctaw Clark Gold Columbia Giant Columbia Star Columbia Sunrise COX's miracle berry Danna Douglass Doyle's Thornless Eclipse Evergreen Thornless Galaxy Hall’s Beauty Heaven Can Wait Hedrick HJ-6 HJ-7 Hull Thornless Illiny Hardy Kelly Kiowa Kotata Loganberry Lucretia Marion Mary Carmen Metolius MM01 Natchez Navaho Nettleton Creamy White Newberry Nightfall Obsidian Onyx Osage Ouachita Ponca Prime-Ark 45 Prime-Ark Freedom Prime-Ark Horizon Prime-Ark Traveler Prime-Jan Prime-Jim Reuben Schultz Shawnee Siskiyou Smoothstem Sweetie Pie Thornfree Triple Crown Twilight Von Waldo Wild Treasure Willamette Thornless Marion
Plants are not large, but vigorous. It is early ripening cultivar with medium-sized, firm, uniform shaped berries and very good yields of excellent quality fresh fruits. The fruit ripening season starts at the end of June, peaks in early July and continues for 14-17 days. Average yield is about 18000 kg/ha, fruit weight is about 5 g. Berries are conical in shape with a drupelet arrangement that produces a very uniformly shaped fruits. Berries are very glossy with excellent black color. The fruit of Metolius blackberry separate easily from the plant.
Flavor and taste is better than Black Diamond and Chester Thornless, but worse, than Marion. Firmness is superior, which is very good for shipping.
Metolius cultivar has moderate resistance to different diseases. Winter hardiness is typical for many other varieties, about minus 13 C.
| Cultivar | Berry weight, g | Yield, t/ha | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 - 2003 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | |
| Metolius | 5.6 | 31.3 | 12.5 | 12.5 |
| Obsidian | 6.8 | 40.8 | 20.1 | 24.0 |
| Silvan | 6.2 | 31.7 | 16.8 | 21.4 |
| Black Diamond | 5.8 | 29.2 | 15.5 | 19.0 |
| Marion | 5.1 | 26.3 | 13.0 | 18.3 |
| Waldo | 5.5 | 25.8 | 11.0 | 17.2 |
| Siskiyou | 6.9 | 20.9 | 9.8 | 9.3 |
| Cultivar | Harvest season | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 5% | Peak | 95% | |
| Metolius | June 25 | July 3 | July 14 |
| Silvan | June 26 | July 8 | July 21 |
| Marion | July 3 | July 10 | July 22 |
| Siskiyou | June 25 | July 8 | July 25 |
| Obsidian | June 25 | July 4 | July 15 |
| Black Diamond | June 28 | July 8 | July 21 |
| Waldo | July 8 | July 22 | Aug. 7 |
