Blackberry

Parts Usually Used

Roots, leaves, fruit

Description of Plant(s) and Culture

Blackberry is a trailing perennial plant; the slender branches feature sharp, recurved prickles. The leaves are finely hairy or almost glabrous and pinnate with 3-5 leaflets. The leaflets are ovate and doubly serrate. The upper leaves are sometimes simple and palmately lobed. The white, five-petaled flowers appear from June to September. The fruit is an aggregate of black drupelets collectively called the blackberry.

Where Found

Grows in dry or sandy soil, along woodland edges, in hedge rows, along roadsides, and on disturbed ground in the northeastern and middle states of the United States. and is cultivated elsewhere. West into Minnesota and south to Tennessee.

Medicinal Properties

Isocitric, and malic acids; sugars, pectin, monoglycoside of cyanidin, tannin (high in root bark and leaves), iron, carbohydrates, sodium, magnesium, and vitamin A and C

Uses

Historically, herbalists employed blackberry leaves and roots as traditional remedies for diarrhea, stomach upset, and menstrual regulation, as well as for conditions such as enteritis, leukorrhea, and dropsy. The plant was also reputed to possess expectorant qualities, and traditions dating back to antiquity recorded the practice of chewing the leaves for bleeding gums. Both the fruit and its juice were historically administered for anemia.

External infusions were likewise applied in folk medicine as washes for scaly skin conditions and psoriasis. Beyond their therapeutic applications, blackberries were traditionally utilized in the production of wine, brandy, cordials, and flavored liqueurs.

Bibliography

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Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants , by Steven Foster and James A. , Houghton Mifflin Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10000 The Nature Doctor: A Manual of Traditional and Complementary Medicine , by Dr. A. , 27 Pine Street (Box 876) New Canaan, CT. 06840-0876. Copyright Verlag A. Vogel, Teufen (AR) Switzerland 1952, 1991 The Magic of Herbs , by David Conway, published by Jonathan Cape, Thirty Bedford Square, London, England.

, West Nyack, NY, 1987. , Lotus Press, PO Box 325, Twin Lakes. , Copyright 1988, published 1992 Indian Herbalogy of North America , by Alma R. , 180 Varick Street, New York, NY 10014, first printed by the United States Government Printing Office, Washington, in 1928, this Dover edition 1974 Prescription for Nutritional Healing, Fifth Edition: A Practical A-to-Z Reference to Drug-Free Remedies Using Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs & Food Supplements , by James F.

D. and Phyllis A. , 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023 An Instant Guide to Medicinal Plants , by Pamela Forey and Ruth Lindsay, Crescent Books (January 27, 1992). The Rodale Herb Book: How to Use, Grow, and Buy Nature’s Miracle Plants (An Organic gardening and farming book) , edited by William H. Hylton, Rodale Press, Inc. , 1974 The Yoga of Herbs: An Ayurvedic Guide to Herbal Medicine , by Dr.

David Frawley & Dr. Vasant Lad, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, Second edition, 1988. The Healing Plants , by Mannfried Pahlow, Barron’s Educational Series, Inc. , Hauppauge, NY 11788, 1992