Obsidian blackberry variety

Obsidian is a thorny trailing blackberry variety from Oregon, Unites States. It is very early ripening plant with medium-sized, firm, uniform shaped berries and very good yields of excellent quality fresh fruits.
Plants are large and vigorous. Obsidian is thorny, similar to Marion, but less thorny than Kotata and Metolius. Obsidian cultivar has moderate resistance to different diseases.
The fruit ripening season starts at the end of June, peaks in early July and continues for 14-15 days.
Average yield is about 19000 kg/ha, fruit weight is about 6 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 Obsidian 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.
Winter hardiness is moderate, about minus 13 C.

Table 1. Comparison table of Obsidian, Marion, Kotata, Waldo and Douglass blackberry at the North Willamette Research and Extension Centre, Oregon State University (planted in 1996)

Cultivar	Fruit weight, g	Yield, t/ha
	1998-2000	1998	1999	2000
Obsidian	5.5	55.0	18.2	18.6
Marion	5.1	20.0	9.2	18.2
Kotata	4.6	20.6	6.9	19.5
Waldo	5.4	13.8	13.0	17.8
Douglass	5.2	7.0	2.4	9.5

Table 2. Comparison table of Obsidian and some other blackberry cultivars at the North Willamette Research and Extension Centre, Oregon State University (planted in 1999)

Cultivar	Fruit weight, g	Yield, t/ha
	2001-2003	2001	2002	2003
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
Metolius	5.6	31.3	12.5	12.5
Waldo	5.5	25.8	11.0	17.2
Siskiyou	6.9	20.9	9.8	9.3