Navaho Blackberry

Navaho was developed by the University of Arkansas fruit breeding program, established in 1964 by Dr. James N. Moore and continued for decades by Dr. John R. Clark, part of the program's long-running tradition of naming its erect thornless blackberry releases after Native American tribes. It originated from a hand-pollinated cross of Arkansas Selection 583 and Arkansas Selection 631, made in 1977 at the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station's Fruit Substation in Clarksville, Arkansas; the resulting seedlings fruited in the summer of 1980, and the selection eventually designated Navaho was chosen specifically for its thornless canes, erect growth habit, and high fruit quality, receiving US Plant Patent protection and formal release in 1989. It became known for an unusually extended ripening season, beginning about a week after the earlier-released Shawnee and continuing as much as two weeks longer, along with tolerance to rosette disease, though it remains more susceptible to orange rust than some later Arkansas releases.