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Is this Rubus armeniacus or R. ursinus? #927311

Asked April 01, 2026, 6:35 PM EDT

I spotted this low (for now) ground cover growing on the North side of my wood picket fence. I'm having a hard time determining if it is the invasive Armenian blackberry (Rubus armeniacus) or the native R. ursinus. I'm leaning toward R. armeniacus, but have a slight reason to hope it is R. ursinus. I've had occasional R. armeniacus in my yard before, and have removed them right away, preventing them from taking hold. This new plant has been growing for about 3-6 months and has not yet flowered. The location is just a few hundred feet above sea level, on the East side of the Cascades. The plant I see now has three leaflets, but it looks like some of these are starting to split into five leaflets. It is growing low to the ground, so far. When I compare to pictures I see on the internet, the general appearance of the surface of the leaves resembles R. armeniacus more than R. ursinus. Please take a look at my photos and let me know if you can determine which plant this is. If it is R. ursinus, I would appreciate any tips for managing their growth and fruit productivity in my yard. Thank you.

Hood River County Oregon

Expert Response

The type of very young blackberry (Rubus) plant is hard to identify. As it grows though, Rubus ursinus, our western blackberry, never develops thick canes. Fairly quickly the Rubus armeniacus grows those thick stems. It is hard to see in your second photo, but it looks to me like the stem starting up is too heavy to be the native blackberry. You might need to watch it for a while to be sure. I like to pot up my mystery plants, so they are easy to destroy if they turn out to be invasive, or to plant the a good location if they are desirable plants. 
I linked to the Oregon Landscape Plants page for each plant. There are good photos and written descriptions. I just found out a few years ago that the native blackberry plants are usually male or female. Somehow my volunteer vines are either male, or if female then there are no males nearby for pollination. Possibly sexed plants are available for sale, but you need one of each to have berry production.
Hope the makes sense. 

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