Home
Advanced Search Map Locator
View Settings
Nurseries Carrying this Plant Add Current Plant To List Edit Current Plant
Show all Photos

About Calscape Nurseries
California Garden Planner Bay Area Garden Planner (NEW) Planting Guide
Butterflies My Plant Lists
Contact Calscape
Tap map to see plants native to location
Order by Popularity Order by Common Name Order by Scientific Name Order by # of Butterflies Hosted
Show nursery cultivars Hide nursery cultivars
Show plants not in nurseries Hide plants not in nurseries
Grid view Text view
Loading....
California Blackberry
Rubus ursinus
  
About California Blackberry (Rubus ursinus) 56 Nurseries Carry This Plant California Blackberry (Rubus ursinus), also known as Pacific Blackberry, is a valuable wildlife plant. The fruit is a favorite of many species of birds and mammals, including black bear. (Ursinus is Latin for bear.) The sweet berries are also edible to humans, although they should be picked with care, as the stems are very prickly. The berries can be eaten raw or cooked. The spreading habit of this shrub provides cover for a wide variety of birds and small mammals. In the wild, deer, rabbits, and other animals eat new shoots and foliage.

California Blackberry is easy to grow in the garden. It tolerates a range of soil types and sun exposures, including shady sites under trees and tall shrubs. It can grow in nutrient-poor soil but does require a moderate to high amount of water to thrive, especially in summer. This shrub can spread up to 6 ft in width, making it a useful groundcover plant. As with harvesting fruit, care should be taken when weeding and pruning. For safety, it's best to plant California Blackberry away from walkways and other high-traffic areas.
Rubus ursinus. (n.d.). https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/shrub/ruburs/all.html
Plant Description
Plant Type
Plant Type
Shrub, Vine

Size
Size
2 - 6 ft tall
6 ft wide

Form
Form
Upright, Spreading

Growth Rate
Growth Rate
Fast

Dormancy
Dormancy
Winter Deciduous

Fragrance
Fragrance
Fragrant - Pleasant

Flower Color
Flower Color
White

Flowering Season
Flowering Season
Spring, Winter

Wildlife Supported
 
Pacific Blackberry is attractive to a wide range of wildlife, from butterflies to bears.

 
Butterflies & moths hosted ( 4 confirmed , 63 likely * ) SHOW ALL

Landscaping Information
Sun
Sun
Full Sun, Part Shade, Full Shade

Moisture
Moisture
Moderate - High

Summer Irrigation
Summer Irrigation
Max 1x / month once established

Nurseries
Nurseries

Ease of Care
Ease of Care
Very Easy

Cold Tolerance
Cold Tolerance
Tolerates cold to 0° F

Soil Drainage
Soil Drainage
Medium, Slow

Soil Description
Soil Description
Tolerates a variety of soils. Soil PH: 5.0 - 8.0

Common uses
Common uses
Groundcovers, Hedges, Bird Gardens

Companion Plants
Companion Plants
Best used away from foot traffic in locations where its numerous prickles will not be problematic. Use under trees such as Pines (Pinus spp.), Firs (Abies spp.), Oaks (Quercus spp.), Madrone (Arbutus spp.), Cottonwoods (Populus spp.), and Willows (Salix spp.), and with shrubs such as Dogwood (Cornus spp.), wild Roses (Rosa spp.), and Currant/Gooseberry (Ribes spp.).

Maintenance
Maintenance
Use caution - very prickly. Prune during winter dormancy to shape and to control spread.

Propagation
Propagation?
From stem cuttings (canes).

Sunset Zones
Sunset Zones?
1, 2, 4*, 5*, 6*, 7*, 8, 9, 14*, 15*, 16*, 17*, 18, 19*, 20*, 21*, 22*, 23*, 24*

Natural Setting
Site Type
Site Type
Moist places such as stream banks, canyons, often as part of woodland understory

Climate
Climate
Annual Precipitation: 6.7" - 155.0", Summer Precipitation: 0.15" - 5.92", Coldest Month: 32.6" - 56.6", Hottest Month: 52.9" - 81.0", Humidity: 0.01" - 29.14", Elevation: -22" - 7419"


Sources include: Wikipedia. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the California Consortia of Herbaria, Sunset information provided by Jepson Flora Project. Propogation from seed information provided by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include CalPhotos, Wikimedia Commons, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include Calflora, CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online, Jepson Flora Project, Las Pilitas, Theodore Payne, Tree of Life, The Xerces Society, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.

Links:   Jepson eFlora Taxon Page  CalPhotos  Wikipedia  Calflora


Sign in to your Calscape Account X




Once signed in, you'll be able to access any previously saved plant lists or create new ones.

Email Address
Password

Sign In