Rubus bifrons
Common Name(s):
Previously known as:
- Rubus fortis
- Rubus speciosus
- Phonetic Spelling
- ROO-bus BY-fronz
- Description
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Himalayan blackberry is a European species of perennial deciduous shrub in the rose (Rosaceae) family now widespread in North America. It is common in the mountains of North Carolina and occasionally found on the Piedmont and coastal parts of the state.
This plant is easy to propagate with rooting canes (branches) than seeds. It grows well in full sun or light shade and in most soils (sandy, loamy, or clay). It prefers well-drained loamy soil. The fruit is edible, but not as useful for that purpose as other species of blackberry.
This blackberry has biennial stems, that is, it produces a number of new stems each year from the perennial rootstock that fruit in their second year and then die. The plant produces apomictic flowers, which produce fruit and viable seed without fertilization, each seedling is a genetic copy of the parent.
Information on blackberry cultivation for home gardeners is available in the NC State Extension publication Blackberries for the Home Garden.
Insects, Diseases, and Other Plant Problems: Plants in this genus are notably susceptible to honey fungus. It can be very weedy and invasive in some areas of the country, especially in the pacific northwest.
- See this plant in the following landscape:
- Cultivars / Varieties:
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- Tags:
- Cultivars / Varieties:
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- Tags:
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Attributes:
- Genus:
- Rubus
- Species:
- bifrons
- Family:
- Rosaceae
- Life Cycle:
- Perennial
- Recommended Propagation Strategy:
- Division
- Stem Cutting
- Country Or Region Of Origin:
- Europe
- Distribution:
- Has naturalized in much of North America
- Wildlife Value:
- This plant provides nectar for pollinators and fruits for birds and other animals.
- Edibility:
- Edible raw or cooked, but flavor is not as satifying as other species of blackberry.
- Dimensions:
- Height: 2 ft. 0 in. - 8 ft. 0 in.
- Width: 2 ft. 0 in. - 20 ft. 0 in.
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Whole Plant Traits:
- Plant Type:
- Perennial
- Shrub
- Habit/Form:
- Arching
- Creeping
- Growth Rate:
- Rapid
- Maintenance:
- High
- Texture:
- Coarse
- Appendage:
- Prickles
- Spines
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Cultural Conditions:
- Light:
- Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)
- Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
- Soil Texture:
- Clay
- High Organic Matter
- Loam (Silt)
- Sand
- Soil pH:
- Acid (<6.0)
- Alkaline (>8.0)
- Neutral (6.0-8.0)
- Soil Drainage:
- Good Drainage
- NC Region:
- Coastal
- Mountains
- Piedmont
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Fruit:
- Fruit Color:
- Black
- Fruit Value To Gardener:
- Edible
- Display/Harvest Time:
- Fall
- Fruit Type:
- Drupe
- Fruit Length:
- < 1 inch
- Fruit Description:
- Mature fruit is up to 3/4 of an inch long.
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Flowers:
- Flower Color:
- Pink
- White
- Flower Inflorescence:
- Panicle
- Flower Bloom Time:
- Spring
- Summer
- Flower Shape:
- Cup
- Flower Description:
- Flowers are white or pink, in large arrays at the ends of branches, sometimes containing as many as 100 flowers. Blooms from April to June.
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Leaves:
- Leaf Color:
- Green
- Leaf Feel:
- Prickly
- Leaf Type:
- Compound (Pinnately , Bipinnately, Palmately)
- Leaf Shape:
- Elliptical
- Ovate
- Leaf Margin:
- Serrate
- Hairs Present:
- Yes
- Leaf Description:
- Leaves are palmately compound with three or five leaflets. Deciduous to semievergreen terminal elliptic or ovate to suborbiculate, base rounded to shallowly cordate, unlobed, margins moderately to coarsely serrate, apex acute or acuminate to short-attenuate, abaxial surfaces white (gray-green in shade), with hooked prickles on largest veins, short-velutinous to tomentose, eglandular, rarely sparsely sessile-glandular along midveins.
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Stem:
- Stem Is Aromatic:
- No
- Stem Surface:
- Hairy (pubescent)
- Stem Description:
- arching, sometimes creeping early or with age, sparsely to densely hairy, eglandular or sparsely sessile-glandular, not or weakly pruinose; prickles moderately dense, hooked, erect, stout, broad- or narrow-based.
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Landscape:
- Attracts:
- Pollinators
- Problems:
- Spines/Thorns
- Weedy
