Wyoming Raspberry vs Black Crowberry - TreeTime.ca

Wyoming Raspberry vs Black Crowberry

Empetrum nigrum

Rubus x Wyoming

CUSTOM GROW

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Black Crowberry
Wyoming Raspberry

Black Crowberry is a native evergreen shrub that forms low, spreading mats. It has unique foliage that spiral around the stem, and small dark berries, giving it visual appeal. The berries are edible, but can be acidic, so are not generally eaten fresh. In colder climates they have a sweet, tart taste, and are dried, used in deserts, or for making jams or jellies.
It provides food for birds and mammals, while its flowers attract pollinators such as bees. Its ability to grow in harsh climates makes it an important species for ecological balance.
Black Crowberry has historical significance as it provided a vital food source for the indigenous cultures of the arctic regions. It is abundant in Scandinavia and is used to make liqueurs, wines, and juices. In Newfoundland and Labrador the berries are known locally as ‘blackberries’ and are used in jams, jellies and baked goods like buns and puddings.

Wyoming Raspberry is a blackberry/raspberry hybrid. It is a vigorous grower, with floricane canes reaching up to 8 feet, which you must support if they are heavily laden with fruit.

The fruit is a deep purple to black drupe, with a flavour between blackberry and raspberry.

It is more cold hardy than other black raspberry cultivars, suitable to cold hardiness zone 3a. Wyoming Black Raspberry is non-suckering, making it suitable for the small home garden.

The Wyoming Raspberry is a fast-growing floricane. This means that raspberries will not grow on canes the year they first grow. The mature canes they do grow on, however, produce more berries than primocane varieties.

Black Crowberry Quick Facts

Wyoming Raspberry Quick Facts

Zone: 3a
Zone: 3a
Height: 0.2 m (0.5 ft)
Height: 2.4 m (8 ft)
Spread: 0.4 m (1.3 ft)
Spread: 1.2 m (4 ft)
Light: partial shade, full sun
Light: full sun
Moisture: any
Moisture: normal, wet
Growth rate: slow
Growth rate: fast
Life span: medium
Life span: short
Growth form: low growing, matt-forming
Spreading: rhizomes - medium, seeds - low
Suckering: none


Foliage: evergreen needle-like leaves
Foliage: small, rough, with jagged edges
Flowers: pink-red, very small
Bloom time: late spring to early summer
Berries: purplish-black, edible
Berries: black raspberries
Flavor: bland, slightly bitter
Harvest: late summer to fall
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


Native to: AB, BC, SK, MB, ON, QC, NS, NB, NL, YT, NT, NU
Other Names: crakeberry, curlewberry, heathberry, northern crowberry
Other Names: wyoming black raspberry