Cultivar 217: Shaffer

Shaffer, also called Shaffer's Colossal, is a purple cane raspberry once described as the most popular purple caned raspberry. It originated in the garden of George Shaffer in Monroe County, New York, about 1871. [S1] Later South Dakota breeding records still treated it as an important cultivated parent. They list it as the male parent of Sunbeam and in other wild x Shaffer hybrid seedling lots. A later bulletin also notes it in the pedigree of Moonbeam. [S1] [S2]

Sources describe the plant as very vigorous and upright, with large fruit and good productivity. The fruit was considered rich in flavor and excellent in quality. It was especially valued for canning and drying. [S1] Its main fault was color. Sources say the berries became too dark to be attractive unless picked somewhat early, while still red. [S1]

Its cold climate record was mixed. At Brookings, South Dakota, Shaffer was injured too badly to be useful there. [S1] Even so, it remained important in prairie breeding work because it was crossed with very hardy wild northern red raspberries, and descendants from those crosses were screened for survival without winter protection. [S1]

In the archive, Shaffer matters less as a prairie raspberry in its own right than as a bridge cultivar. It represents the older purple cane raspberry class from the eastern United States. It also appears directly in the parentage of later South Dakota hybrids such as Sunbeam, where sources connect it with fruit color and general fruit type. [S1]

Summary source basis

• S1: Raspberries, Blackberries and Dewberries
• S2: Plant Introductions

This summary currently draws chiefly from Raspberries, Blackberries and Dewberries.

Featured source descriptions

“Originated in the garden of George Shaffer, Monroe county, New York, about 1871.”
— ^[1]

“Sunbeam's fruit is described as being on the style of Shaffer.”
— ^[1]

“Also called Shaffer's Colossal.”
— ^[1]

“Of rich flavor and excellent in quality.”
— ^[1]

Direct parent cultivars

• No direct linked parent cultivars promoted yet.

Parentage claim text

• No direct breeding_cross claim text yet.

Derived or downstream cultivar links

• Wild (lineage link)

Source-story quotations

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Taxonomy context: No family-tree context surfaced yet.

Related cultivars mentioned in source context