Logan berry
Logan berry (lat. Rubus loganobaccus) is a very peculiar hybrid of blackberries and raspberries, often called raspberry or Logan berry.
Description
Logan berry is a rather interesting octaploid hybrid, bred as a result of crossing the well-known blackberry with raspberry. This is an extremely decorative crop, which is a spreading compact shrub with graceful, arched and thornless shoots, the length of which can reach two meters.
You can admire the loganberry blossoms from mid-June until the end of summer. At the same time, its flowers do not look like the usual raspberry flowers — they are painted in delicate pinkish tones and are very reminiscent of chamomile flowers clustered in miniature brushes. The first berries ripen in August, and the last harvest is in October or November, before the onset of frost.
If we compare logan berries with blackberries or raspberries, they can boast of much greater frost resistance, significantly less susceptibility to various ailments, larger berries, and more stable and impressive yields with more substantial volumes.
Origin story
Logan”s berry was bred purely by chance by James Harvey Logan, an American lawyer and part-time plant breeder, in his own garden plot in California. At first, his goal was to cross several blackberry varieties in order to obtain a more commercially attractive species. However, in the end it turned out that several varieties of blackberries growing near ordinary red raspberries underwent cross-pollination.
The hybrid obtained as a result of a random coincidence not only successfully adapted to the existing conditions, but also surprised with truly incredible productivity. But consumers didn’t really like its taste, and therefore this hybrid was later used for numerous hybridization experiments, but in the form of a parent plant.
Application
Logan berries are consumed in the same way as raspberries or blackberries. It is eaten fresh (most often this is what happens), jam or compotes are made from it (compotes with apples, gooseberries and currants are especially good), and wonderful jelly is also made.
The organic acids contained in these fancy fruits help to activate metabolism, suppress putrefactive processes occurring in the gastrointestinal tract and boast excellent diuretic and powerful choleretic effects. Such berries will be excellent helpers with poor appetite, with regular indigestion or poor digestibility of food, as well as with systematic constipation, exacerbations of cholelithiasis and all sorts of troubles with the digestive organs. This berry also has a beneficial effect on the cardiovascular system — the potassium it contains is endowed with a pronounced calming effect and the ability to normalize heart rate and remove excess fluid from the body.
This unusual berry also holds the record for magnesium content and is very rich in folic acid.
Contraindications
There are practically no contraindications to the use of such berries; only allergic reactions or individual intolerance are possible.
Growing and care
Logan berry is grown on durable trellises, and its propagation occurs by seeds or rooting tips of annual shoots.
