CALIFORNIA BLACKBERRY

Species Name: Rubus ursinus
Family: Rosaceae (rose family)
Plant Type: Shrub



Description:  Mound building, vine-like shrub with tip rooting, running stems.  Stems grayish with slender, delicate, straight thorns.



Leaf:  Compound with 3 leaflets, leaflets irregularly toothed, length 1-4 inches.

 

Flower:  March-June, generally dioecious (separate sex shrubs):  Singular or clusters of white flowers, petal length to 1 inch.

Fruit/Seed:  Blackberry (aggregate of black stone fruits), round to oblong, red ripening to black, highly edible, ripens in summer.  Multiple small seeds inside a single blackberry.

Typical Location:  Moist areas, shade, floodplain stream banks; elevations below 5,000 feet.

Revegetation Approach:  Container, plants grow rapidly.

Key Notes:  Often confused with the non-native Himalayan blackberry (R. discolor).  Distinguished by leaf and thorn shape.

Notes:  Dense growth provides excellent foraging, nesting and hiding habitat for wildlife.  Edible berries are an important food source for many species of mammals and birds.  Spreading growth binds soil for erosion control. Pierce's Disease host plant.