Atherton raspberry

Photo: John Moss — Public domain · source

Survives zone 9 and warmer

Winter protection required

Harvest calendar

Best planted in early spring after your last frost, or in fall before the ground freezes, depending on your climate.

A tropical rainforest raspberry, not a temperate-climate plant — needs genuine warmth, or overwinter protection at the cool edge of its range. Fruit is larger than a typical raspberry with a milder flavour. Unlike most brambles here, effectively thornless.

Hardiness

Zone 9+

Habit

Shrub

Edible part

Fruit

Ripens

Summer–autumn, sometimes year-round in mild climates

Mature size

To about 2 m tall and wide

Light

Full sun

Soil pH

5.5–7.0 (mildly acid to neutral)

Environment

Tropical rainforest

Native range

Northern Queensland, Australia, and Papua New Guinea — rainforest.

Status

Both wild and cultivated

Years to fruit

2 yrs

Growth speed

Fast — canes make 1–3 m in a season

Spacing

200 cm (79 in) apart — about 4 m² (43 sq ft) per plant

Leaf shape

Alternate, pinnate with three to five leaflets, the terminal one largest, softly hairy beneath and toothed; the stems bristly with fine prickles.

Root system

A perennial crown and shallow spreading root system in the top 30–40 cm, carrying biennial canes: each cane grows one year, fruits the next, then dies. New shoots come from buds on both the crown and the roots, which is why a bramble returns from root fragments left after digging and why it is so hard to remove once settled.

Fruit description

Bright red, juicy, larger than a typical raspberry, mild flavour

Propagation

Hardwood cuttings (about 20 cm, rooting hormone) taken at winter's end, or division of suckers in early spring.

Pollination

Self-fertile and bee-pollinated — a single plant fruits. Bumblebees do the heavy work; poor pollination shows as crumbly, part-formed berries with only some drupelets filled.

The edible parts listed above are a starting point, not a field guide. Identify a plant with certainty — ideally against a local authority — before eating any part of it, and read the full disclaimer. Spotted something wrong? Report it.