Dewberry

What it is

Southern dewberry is Rubus trivialis, a low-growing shrub with red bristles and backward-curving prickles along its stems. The ripe berries are black and about 0.8–2.5 cm (⅓–1 in) across. Tossed with sugar, they soften and turn juicy within minutes. Fresh berries can go straight into a bowl; cooked ones become jam, preserves or cobbler filling.

Where it comes from

This dewberry belongs to the eastern United States, from the mid-Atlantic and the South west to Texas. It is common on North Carolina’s coastal plain and Piedmont. In Texas it grows from the east through the centre of the state: Lisa Fain picked dewberries as a child in Houston, and years later her uncle found a patch in the north pasture of the family farm in Collin County.

How it's eaten where it grows

In North Texas, Lisa Fain’s aunt baked the Collin County berries into a dewberry cobbler. Lisa Fain also cooks them with sugar, lemon juice and grated lemon zest for a sweet-tart jam to spoon onto warm biscuits. A small picking is enough for a small batch.

One cobbler method warms the berries with sugar until syrupy, then spoons them over a batter of flour, milk and melted butter. The fruit bubbles as it bakes. Served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, it pairs hot berry juice with cold cream.

How it's grown

Southern dewberry forms low thickets and spreads through seeds and roots. A stem tip touching the soil can grow into a new plant. Sun or light shade and moist, well-drained ground suit it. White flowers, usually one at the end of a short flowering branch, come before the black fruit.

When and where you'll find it

Southern dewberries usually fruit in April and May; May picking also fits the Collin County farm in North Texas. Fresh or frozen berries work in cobbler. For a prepared version, The Old Mill’s online shop in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee lists Wild Dewberry Jelly, made from fruit juice in small, hand-stirred batches. It is a clear jelly rather than a jam containing crushed berries.