Description:
A decidious Shrub growing to 3m by 4m at a medium rate.
Blackberry is a trailing perennial plant that grows in dry or sandy soil in the northeastern and middle states of the U.S. and is cultivated elsewhere. The slender branches feature sharp, recurved prickles. The leaves are finely hairy with 3 to 5 leaflets. The leaflets are ovate and doubly serrate. The white, five-petaled flowers appear from June to September. The berries turn red as they ripen and become a juicy, purplish blue black by midsummer.

Distribution and habitat:
Woodland Garden; Sunny Edge; Dappled Shade; Shady Edge; Deep Shade.
The Blackberry grows in Europe, including Britain, from he Netherlands south and east to N. Africa, Italy and Macaronesia.

Hystory:
The name of the bush is derived from brambel, or brymbyl, signifying prickly. We read of it as far back as the days of Jonathan, when he upbraided the men of Shechem for their ingratitude to his father's house, relating to them the parable of the trees choosing a king, the humble bramble being finally elected, after the olive, fig-tree and vine had refused the dignity. The ancient Greeks knew Blackberries well, and considered them a remedy for gout.
Opinions differ as to whether there is one true Blackberry with many aberrant forms; or many distinct types. Professor Babington divides the British Rubi into forty-one species, or more. The Blackberry is known in some parts of the country as 'Scaldhead,' either from producing the eruption known as scaldhead in children who eat the fruit to excess - the over-ripe fruit being indigestible - or from the curative effects of the leaves and berries in this malady of the scalp, or from the remedial effects of the leaves, when applied externally to scalds. The leaves are said to be still in use in England as a remedy for burns and scalds; formerly their operation was helped by a spoken charm. Creeping under a Bramble-bush was itself a charm against rheumatism, boils, blackheads, etc. Blackberries were in olden days supposed to give protection against all 'evil runes,' if gathered at the right time of the moon. The whole plant had once a considerable popular reputation both as a medicine and as a charm for various disorders. The flowers and fruit were from very ancient times used to remedy venomous bites; the young shoots, eaten as a salad, were thought - though Gerard cautiously suggests the addition of a little alum - to fasten loose teeth. Gerard and other herbalists regard the bramble as a valuable astringent, whether eaten or applied: its leaves 'heal the eies that hang out,' and are a most useful application for piles, its fruit stops looseness of the bowels and is good for stone, and for soreness in mouth and throat.

Parts used:
Fruits, root, leaves.

Constituens:
20% Tannin, gallic acid, saponins including villosin.

Edible Uses:
Edible Parts: Fruit.
Fruit - raw or cooked. Aromatic, but with small dryish drupelets. Sweet.

Medicinal Uses:
Astringent; Tannin; Tonic.
The bark of the root and the leaves contain much tannin, and have long been esteemed as a capital astringent and tonic, proving a valuable remedy for dysentery and diarrhoea, etc. The root is the more astringent.

Others Uses:
Dye.
A purple to dull blue dye is obtained from the fruit. The root yields an orange dye when mixed with salt.

Recipes:
Blackberry Wine. Blackberry jelly has been used with good effects in cases of dropsy caused by feeble, ineffective circulation, and the London Pharmacopoeia (1696) declared the ripe berries of the bramble to be a great cordial, and to contain a notable restorative spirit. Blackberry wine is made by crushing the fruit and adding one quart of boiling water to each gallon of the fruit, allowing to stand for 24 hours, stirring occasionally, and then straining off the liquid. 2 lb. of white sugar are then added to every gallon, and it is kept in a tightly corked cask till the following October. This makes a trustworthy cordial astringent, used in looseness of the bowels. Another delicious cordial is made from pressing out the juice from the ripe Blackberries, adding 2 lb. of sugar to each quart and 1/2 oz. of nutmegs and cloves. Boil all together for a short time, allow to get cold and then add a little brandy.
In Crusoe's Treasury of Easy Medicines (1771) a decoction of Blackberry leaves is recommended as a fomentation for longstanding ulcers. There is also a popular country notion that the young shoots, eaten as a salad, will fasten loose teeth. A noted hair-dye has been made by boiling the leaves in strong lye, which imparts to the hair a permanent soft black colour.
Blackberry Vinegar. It is a wholesome drink that is easily made and can with advantage have its place in the store cupboard for use in winter, being a fine cordial for a feverish cold.
Gather the berries on a fine day, stalk them, put into an earthenware vessel and cover with malt vinegar. Let them stand three days to draw out the juice. Strain through a sieve, drain thoroughly, leaving them to drip through all day. Measure the juice and allow a pound of sugar to each pint. Put into a preserving pan, boil gently for 5 minutes, removing scum as it rises, set aside to cool, and when cold, bottle and cork well. A teaspoonful of this, mixed with water will often quench thirst when other beverages fail and makes a delicious drink in fever.

Safety:
Some people believe that large amount of tannins, if consumed, may result in cancer, stomach distress, nausea and vomiting. 
Blackberry root bark contains the most tannin followed by the leaves and finally the fruit. If you are suffering from chronic gastrointestinal conditions such as colitis, do not use blackberry roots.