$27.00 ($27.00-$29.00 choose a size)
Take a walk along forest margins or your local creek in eastern Australia, and you will come across Native Raspberries. This cultivar however is completely Thornless, and was selected by local Peter Hardwick. Being completely thornless, it is a pleasure to pick the fruit from its scrambling branches. Berries are bright red, sweet and juicy when well watered and grown with plenty of organic matter. The canes can produce fruit in as little as 6 months and respond well to fertiliser, compost and mulch. Vigorous and scrambling to 1.5m, with a suckering habit which is easily controlled with mowing, the plant is best staked to keep the fruit off the ground and keep it tidy. The leaves of native raspberry can also be used in tea and skin care products. A tea can be made from an infusion for 15 mins from up to six shoots of fresh native raspberry leaf in a teapot. The leaf can also be used as a dried herb. The flavour of the leaf is mildly herbaceous and astringent. It mixes well with other native teas like lemon myrtle and cinnamon myrtle. Research on the leaf of native raspberry shows that it contains beneficial plant compounds like pomolic acid, euscaphic acid, gallic acid and ellagic acid. This plant has Plant Breeder Rights and is not permitted to be propagated and sold for a commercial purpose.