Trailing Blackberry

This vine produces berries which are smaller and less sweet than the invasive Himalayan Blackberry, but some people praise its flavor. The thorns are small and not as pronounced as other thorn-bearing plants. The vines can grow very long, but are narrow and unable to hold the vine upright once it exceeds about 6" in length, although the vine can scramble over other plants and appear to be much taller than it would be without the support. Besides being less thorny than invasive blackberries, it can also be distinguished by the thin round (sometimes bluish) vines as opposed to the thick angular vines of the invasive species. Very small plants of the different species may be indistinguishable from each other.

If you wish to increase your harvest, consider growing the vines vertically on a trellis or fence. The flowers are important to native bees and the plants are important to some butterflies.