Thimbleberries on the Central Coast

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Raspberries, blackberries, blueberries and strawberries aren't the whole story of berries on the Central Coast. There are many other species to be found around the farms and forests of our area.

The photos below are of thimbleberries, a species of Rubus found in the forests of the Santa Cruz mountains. This set of photos was taken in the lower reaches of Nisene Marks State Park.

Thimbleberries, Rubus parviflorus, are commonly found growing in the woods next to clearings in humus rich soil. The plants can be quite tall and over one's head in height. The foliage has a maple-leaf shape, is velvety and is rather large at some six to ten inches across on a fully grown plant. The canes are not thorny, and fruit is borne sparsely in clusters of three to five on second year canes.

The fruit of the thimbleberry are each composed of multiple druplets, and are quite soft when ripe so I doubt they would ship very well. They aren't super tasty. At any rate, the season is underway right now, and will probably continue for another two weeks or so in Santa Cruz County.

Smaller first year cane of thimbleberry.