Same foliage as other raspberries?

mersiepoo, I think bboy in the first answer to start things off here, swaurely hits the nail on the head: the first thing to determine, seems, are these plants really the sort you think. Yellow raspberries are really little else than a color variant of red raspberries, which (red ones) are not "much" known to do the thing you mention, arch over all the time right down to the ground whereupon the tips root.
The cane-dying you mention, also might be a further tip-off that these plants are really something else, such as likely some kind of black raspberry or purple raspberry type. Cane killing diseases, I believe,, and as wellin my personal experience, are much more apt to happen with the purple or black types, than with red (yellow) raspberries .

And from what I recall, diseases like you describe, if and when it's in purple or black raspberries, are often enough either more or less incurable, or so dangerous to other raspberries if any are present or apt to be planted in the future, that a strong case might be made for rooting out diseased plants in such instances, and starting brand new with new plants, and even in an at least slightly new spot ( a little removed and preferably "uphill" even(to avoid possible root born disease washing down from the original site.
Personally for best prospect of preventing whatever disease may be present ,. from carrying over to new plants, in case you want to take your efforts that far, I'd lean toward going with a somewhat different type raspberry. such as "plain old" red raspberry (which, as mentioned, includes "yellow" raspberry) or related plant (such as blackberries) if there's no chance for the mentioned new, uphill or far removed site for re-planting.

One last thing, I'd guess it's an established by-word that plain old summer bearing red-colored red raspberries, fairly far-and-away "tend" to be the easiest raspberry type to grow, especially if just starting out with these berries, that is to say "brambles" like raspberries, blackberries etc.

Well, they have regular raspberry leaves, the canes are more yellow looking than other raspberry canes, and the thorns are reddish and hairy looking. Not sure if this narrows it down for ya. They look healthy otherwise, that's why I haven't killed them yet. They are planted far away from my red raspberries, so if it is a root disease my other berries wouldn't get it (i hope!). I might just cut them down this spring and see what happens.

They do have such a weird growing habit, they are a little bit like dew berries, but not quite like vines. If I had a pic I'd post it. So what the heck are these.....lol! Now I wonder! Maybe a mutant.

mersiepoo, I trust you "are" remembering that a raspberry "cane" lives just two years: normally and without special drastic pruning, a cane comes up from the roots and makes a full sized cane the first year ("without" berries the first year unless it's an "everbearer" or fallbearer type), then this cane lives on into its second year whereupon (if all goes well) it makes fruit, and Then_this_cane_dies. If it fails to make any fruit (like yours, from what you say) the second year, it presumably dies anyway.

Probably I could have explained this better, but maybe you will know what I mean and what I am getting at: the fact that your second year canes eventually die (if I understand you right) during that second year, especially during the latter part of that second year, would not be anything unusual or abnormal in itself, or necessarily initself a sign of disease: but the lack of successful berry production does seem like a sign of disease.

To hazard a guess: these raspberries you have might be some kind of black raspberry, and , reminiscednt maybe of the situation with red raspberries--wherein red raspberries also come in a yeallow version--well black raspberries also have a yellow berried variation, really more a gold color in my experience and not the same shade as the "red raspberry yellow version."

The gold or yellow version of black raspberries is, in case that is what you have (and I think your vine descriptions do fairly well match "black raspberries") I believe is, as found, almost always wild black raspberries/gold variant (there "are" cultivated versions of the gold variant of black raspberries, but from what I understand they're so obscure and rare, that the chance of coming upon them in a planting or a backyard would seem exceedingly small).

"And", black raspberries in the wild, from what I've experienced anyway, can be very disease prone as to the berries, with the blossoming and the berries sometimes seeming to start out fine, but often drying up and dying (the beries I mean,) often during ripening or just after ripening. As in, the whole plot.
Not normally one of the really serious diseases such as kills the plants or threatens the existence of other nearby ones such as the other ones of other types that you have, but might best be kept an eye on incase similar berry problems start ashowing up on your other raspberries (in which case, probably definitlely consider rooting out the mysterious ones as they might, then, be well suspected of beding the cause.
Meanwhile, if you keep them, maybe good for wilflife cover or something?
Your call of course, as to what to do with or about them and as to your priorities

Sounds like some oddball kind of rubus to me, not yellow raspberry. Maybe wineberry? They have hairy red thorns. Use a search engine to get some pictures. They are wild everywhere and I had a few in my raspberry bed once that I thought were the "real thing" until I noticed their differences.

The reason why I wonder if they are something else is all red/yellow raspberries I have seen look pretty similar on the canes, and I recall no red hairy thorns.

Scott

merciepoo:

You have yet to tell us what may be the most interesting factoid of all: Where did you get these things?

It may not seem important to you that we should know this, but it could be one of the keys to solving this mystery.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

To answer mephisto's question, the ?raspberries? died during the summer before they produced fruit (they had flowers on them in a cluster then kicked the bucket). The cane was in it's second year of growth, btw.

Scottfsmith, check this out, the second picture down on this link looks exactly like the fruiting clusters I had, especially the red hairs on them, could be some variation of wineberry! I do remember that the leaves were more of a yellowish color than the photos here. Maybe that is what it is? Once it leafs out I'll be able to tell for sure (i hope). http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images/view?back=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%3Fp%3Dpicture%2Bof%2Bwineberry%26toggle%3D1%26cop%3Dmss%26ei%3DUTF-8&h=327&w=400&imgcurl=www.dnr.state.wi.us%2Finvasives%2Ffact%2Fimages%2Flg%2Fwineberry2_lg.jpg&imgurl=www.dnr.state.wi.us%2Finvasives%2Ffact%2Fimages%2Flg%2Fwineberry2_lg.jpg&size=45.9kB&name=wineberry2_lg.jpg&rcurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dnr.state.wi.us%2Finvasives%2Ffact%2Fwineberry_photos.htm&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dnr.state.wi.us%2Finvasives%2Ffact%2Fwineberry_photos.htm&p=wineberry&type=jpeg&no=4&tt=731&fr=yfp-t-501

Jellyman, I wish I could remember where I got these weird berries from, I think it was from a mail order plant company, but it's been so long ago I don't remember. Maybe it's some weird hybrid! I'll make a note to post a picture of this thing once it leafs out in late spring.

This is driving me nuts (short trip).