thumb|Boysenberry, June - Los Angeles, California
The boysenberry is a cross between the European raspberry (Rubus idaeus), European blackberry (Rubus fruticosus), American dewberry (Rubus aboriginum), and loganberry (Rubus × loganobaccus).
Description
Boysenberries grow on low, trailing plants. It is a large aggregate fruit with a deep maroon color, weighing and containing large seeds.
In the late 1920s, George M. Darrow of the United States Department of Agriculture began tracking down reports of a large, reddish-purple berry that had been grown on Boysen's farm in Anaheim, California.
He began selling the large berries at his farm stand in 1932 and soon noticed that people kept returning for more. When asked what they were called, Knott said, "Boysenberries", after their originator. His family's small restaurant and pie business eventually grew into Knott's Berry Farm.
Cultivation
As a raspberry-blackberry hybrid, the boysenberry plant prefers direct sun in fertile, loam soil with good drainage in the pH range of 5.6 to 6.5. For optimal crop management, nitrogen fertilization is used initially, with rows of berries spaced at and individual plants apart, typically supported on a trellis.
The 'Nectar' cultivar of boysenberry should not be confused with the nectarberry, Rubus arcticus, a plant native to arctic swamps.