I have noticed walking to work some bushes growing among some roses.
They have tiny black berries (anoput the size of a raspberry). The
stems are covered in small, almost hair-like prickles but no true
thorns (like proper blackberry bushes). The berries are much smaller
than regular blackberries and taste very tart (yes I know I took a
chance there but they seemed fine) but otherwise look just like
blackberries.

Any idea what these are?

In article ,
Stef writes:
|
| I have noticed walking to work some bushes growing among some roses.
| They have tiny black berries (anoput the size of a raspberry). The
| stems are covered in small, almost hair-like prickles but no true
| thorns (like proper blackberry bushes). The berries are much smaller
| than regular blackberries and taste very tart (yes I know I took a
| chance there but they seemed fine) but otherwise look just like
| blackberries.

The answer to your initial question is "yes"!

There are a large number of strains of blackberry (Rubus fruticosus agg.),
and some are like that. The "agg." is the botanical term for "sod this
for a lark - classifying this chaos into subspecies is hopeless - I'm
off to the pub".


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.