Blackberry

Blackberries are small clustered black fruit that grow on tangled stems and vines, emerging from small pale flowers that bloom in late spring or early summer. At first the new berries are red in colour, turning to black as they ripen. These berries were evidently well known across Middle-earth, from the tradition of blackberry-picking in the Shire to the blackberry tarts served in the Prancing Pony. Bilbo found blackberries growing in the Vales of Anduin as he journeyed with Thorin and Company, but at that time - early summer - they were still only in flower, and the berries themselves had yet to appear.

The tough and tangled blackberry plants on which the berries grow are commonly called brambles or briars; sometimes those names are used exclusively for blackberry plants, but they may also include similar ground-dwelling plants such as the wild rose. Though blackberries tend to be more associated with the northern lands, there are descriptions of briars and brambles across many different regions of Middle-earth, which might be taken to suggest that blackberries were found in places as far apart as the Shire and the borders of Mordor.