Talk:Rubus parviflorus

The origin of the Thimbleberry's name is contradicted in paragraphs one and two; first it is stated that the plant gets its name from the Thimble Islands in Connecticut, then that the name comes from the thimble-like appearance of the drupelets' core. I don't know which one's correct, but I just thought I'd point it out. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.14.32.166 (talk) 03:33, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Based on the images and description in the article, I'm quite sure that this plant is what is called a "redcap" where I'm from (Pacific NW - Cascade foothills in Washington State, USA.) I've never heard anyone call it a thimbleberry, although the name is quite appropriate. I suggest that the next person that comes along that also knows these berries by the name redcap note this in the article, and possibly add a link to the disambiguation page for redcap that points here. Radishes (talk) 01:13, 15 March 2008 (UTC)

I also live near Seattle, Washington, but when I looked up "thimbleberry" and came here, the picture is exactly what I think of as a thimbleberry. I have often eaten them when growing wild. I don't know the word "redcap". Art LaPella (talk) 04:45, 14 August 2011 (UTC)

I use to go to Camp Roganunda in Washington State as a Camp Fire girl. The berries grew there and I was told they were Redcaps. I'm glad someone else was told that also! I feel less crazy now. Hazelspider (talk) 16:13, 4 August 2024 (UTC)

I grew up in Southwestern BC and know these as thimbleberries, I've similarly never heard of red caps.

Some people,at least, use the term thimbleberries for what I call blackberries. It's hard to argue with them, because blackberries are much more thimble-shaped then the photo you show of thimbleberries which actually seem LESS thimble-shaped, if anything, than raspberries.

I aggree! Someone please update a pic, where you can really see the tipycal shape, because that really looks more like a raspberry...

Is it Rubus occidentalis that they are calling blackberry in your part of the country? A thimble is an implement that fits over a finger, so the main feature of its shape is hollowness. Thimbleberries and Black raspberries fit over small fingers. Blackberries as we use the term here don't, the core stays inside so they aren't hollow. Meggar 01:45, 2005 September 7 (UTC)

Yeah, I know what you're talking about, Meggar. Some cultivars of blackberries are a lot like raspberries or "thimbleberries" (known as redcaps to me) -- especially the ones that grow on the ground in small, loose, somewhat delicate, bushes. Other types of blackberry (such as the invasive ones that colonize whole hillsides and grow into huge, hardy bushes with thick vines) have larger, heavier, non-hollow berries. Radishes (talk) 01:18, 15 March 2008 (UTC)

I checked the sources listed for the article as well as a couple of others, including Hitchcock and Pojar. I didn't find any common names other than "Thimbleberry". Walter Siegmund (talk) 15:19, 9 April 2010 (UTC)

To add further confusion on the subject of name - my grandparents would sometimes refer to the berries as "thumbcaps". This was in the Keeweenaw region of Michigan. However I have rarely heard any term other than "thimbleberry" used by anyone born after 1940. Sir Smedley (talk) 23:29, 8 April 2010 (UTC)

I checked Hortus Third, and it lists two names, thimbleberry and salmonberry (sorry, no redcaps). Two names is enough to mean that this page should be moved to the scientific name, so I'll do that. Then if someone can find a citation for "redcaps" it can be added. Nadiatalent (talk) 12:11, 14 August 2011 (UTC)

I am also from the Pacific Northwest and my family has always referred to these as "redcaps". I believe this may be derived from a Native American name. Here's a citation where "red cap time" refers to when this specific plant can be harvested (see the lower right of page 269 or search on 'red cap'): https://ethnobiology.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/JoE/23-2/LantzTurner2003.pdf --Sawall (talk) 22:07, 7 September 2017 (UTC)

Here is another citation where a Squamish to English dictionary translates the same term into both "thimbleberry" and "redcap": --Sawall (talk) 22:15, 7 September 2017 (UTC)

Here's an addition: it grows in rural New York State (esp as part of the re-growth after clear cut)-less than 100 miles from NYC! I recognized the thimbleberry immediately it couldn't be transported, but rather had to be consumed immediately. Blackberries are denser and very easy to place in a pail. Raspberries, less so but not impossible. Thimbleberry seemed "hairier" than any other berry-but sweeter, as well. So, I agree that the thimbleberry fruit are "larger, flatter, and softer than raspberries"...& because the fruit is so soft, it does not pack or ship well, so thimbleberries are rarely cultivated commercially." Larriette (talk) 02:37, 16 September 2014 (UTC)

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