Blackberry plant named ‘thunderhead’

Abstract

A new and distinct blackberry cultivar that originated from seed produced from a cross between the thorny primocane-fruiting maternal blackberry plant ORUS 4355-2 and the thornless primocane-fruiting paternal blackberry plant ‘Prime-Ark® Freedom’. ‘Thunderhead’ is the first primocane-fruiting blackberry variety released by the USDA-ARS breeding program in Oregon. This new blackberry cultivar can be distinguished by its exceptionally high plant vigor and yields of medium sized berries with high gloss, firmness, excellent flavor and fruit quality, and relatively small seed size. The berries are well suited for fresh eating, with good sweetness and gloss when picked firm, and low bitter notes. The new and distinct blackberry variety contains a genetic background derived from eastern U.S. germplasm and is expected to grow and is expected to perform well in most areas where primocane-fruiting blackberries are currently grown.

We claim: 
     
       1. A new and distinct cultivar of blackberry plant named ‘Thunderhead’, substantially as illustrated and described, characterized by its plant vigor, and exceptional yields of medium sized berries with excellent fresh eating quality, firmness, and flavor, with small seed size.