Himalayan blackberry
About This Species
Himalayan blackberry is valued by humans for its delicious berries; however, it easily invades disturbed sites, pastures, roadsides, streambanks, and forest edges. This plant crowds out low-growing vegetation and can create thickets so dense it limits the movement of large animals. Thickets can produce 7,000-13,000 seeds per square meter. Himalayan blackberry also spreads by roots and stem fragments, as well as by birds and animals that eat the berries and disperse them.
How to Identify
Himalayan blackberry can grow up to 5 m tall, with canes up to 12 m long that root wherever they touch the ground. It has small, white to pinkish flowers with 5 petals each. Leaves are large, rounded and generally grouped in fives on first-year canes, and threes on second-year canes. Berries grow to 2 cm long and are round, black, shiny and hairless.
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Himalayan blackberry Factsheet -
If you need advice about invasive species on your property or you are concerned about reported invasives in your local area, contact your local municipality or regional invasive species organization.
Plantwise
Learn about best practices
A few non-invasive alternatives to plant instead of Himalayan blackberry include:
- Nootka rose (Rosa nutkana)
- Thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus)
- Marionberry or Boysenberry (Rubus ‘Marion’ or ‘Boysen’)
- Red raspberry (Rubus idaeus hybrids)
- Black huckleberry (Vaccinium membranaceum)
