Columbia Star

Columbia Star is a full sibling of Columbia Giant — same 2005 cross of NZ 9629-1 with ORUS 1350-2, same 2008 selection at Corvallis — released in 2013 by USDA-ARS with the Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station and patented as USPP25,532 in 2015, with Chad Finn as lead breeder. It was the first thornless blackberry released carrying the 'Lincoln Logan' source of thornlessness outside the Logan- and Boysen-fruited types, which opened that thornless gene up to Marion-style fruit quality. Marion itself accounts for about 20% of the pedigree, and processors rate the frozen product as equal to or better than both Marion and Black Diamond. Where Columbia Giant sells on size, Columbia Star sells on eating quality and manageability: it outyields Marion while growing canes barely half as long. For a home grower short on trellis space who wants marionberry-grade flavour without thorns, that combination is the whole argument.