Many people don’t give the humble bramble the respect that it deserves. Although most of us think that all bramble bushes are the same the reality is that there are 330 species of bramble in the UK!

This plant is part of the rose family, the thorns and the five petaled flowers are a giveaway, and it is very important for wildlife. It provides protection for birds, reptiles and mammals and a whole range of food sources, from the mass of leaf buds, to its flowers and then the fruit. Arachnids, insects and other arthropods galore use the bramble, from butterflies to orb weaver spiders, from millipedes to aphids, all of whom add to biodiversity and play important roles in every food web.

The blackberry is the bramble fruit and is actually an aggregate fruit, made up of multiple ‘drupelets’.
Blackberry seeds have been found in the stomach contents of a neolithic man, a testament to how popular they have been throughout human history!