PNW Native
Ranges along western North America from British Columbia to Baja California, and east into Montana. (4)
Trailing blackberry grows along prostrate stems up to 15 ft. long and less than 2 ft. off the ground. Leaves are deciduous, ternately compound, and root at the end of shoots to create long runners. Stems are barbed. Trailing blackberry is dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate plants. Flowers range from white to pink in clusters blooming from leaf axils. Berries ripen in July, and blackberries are up to 1 cm long. (2)
Trailing blackberry is widely utilized by small and large fauna alike and occasionally as domestic browse. Black-tailed deer in Douglas-fir forests in the Coast Ranges of Oregon ate trailing blackberry leaves in large quantities during all seasons except summer. These leaves were eaten until they are covered in large quantities of snow. Studies of these deer communities found that 50% of their total forage during winter was trailing blackberry. Young trailing blackberry shoots and leaves, which develop earlier than other shrubs, are a crucial source of energy and food for black-tailed deer at a time when forage abundance has dwindled. Elk in California similarly consume trailing blackberry with their usage most heavy in fall and winter. (4)
Smaller animals, including birds and mammals, also rely on trailing blackberry for food and shelter. Thrashers, pigeons, tanagers, northern mockingbird, towhees, jays, and sparrows all form nests in dense trailing blackberry thickets. The least Bell’s vireo, an endangered subspecies in southern California, will often nest in willow, oak, and cottonwood riparian ecotones next to trailing blackberry thickets and water. California quail, band-tailed pigeon, blue grouse, ruffled grouse, Hungarian partridge, northern bobwhite, American robin, pine grosbeak, summer tanager, yellow-breasted chat, grey catbird, and ring-necked pheasant amongst numerous other bird species eat the blackberries. Mammals will also eat and/or nest in trailing blackberry. Squirrels, chipmunks, raccoons, skunks, opossums, grey fox, red fox, coyotes, and black bears all eat blackberries. Red squirrel, rabbits, beaver, and black bear amongst other mammals use blackberry thickets for cover. (4)
Trailing blackberry prefers dry, open forests, streamsides, and disturbed sites from low to middle elevations. They are considered weeds by gardeners. (3)
Fresh blackberries are eaten in summer by native Americans. The fruits were dried and mixed with meat into large cakes which were stored and eaten as a winter staple. They soaked unripe berries in water for a cool refreshing beverage. Fruits and stems were used in tonics and medicines, and roots were boiled for similar medicinal purposes. Vines and leaves were dried and made into teas. (4) A Coast Salish tale says that blackberry was created when a woman was chased up a tree and killed by her jealous husband, and her blood became blackberries when it dropped to the ground. The same tribal group brushes their body in thorny trailing blackberry shoots to spiritually cleanse before ceremonial spirit dances. (1)
The sweet, edible berries of the trailing blackberry were used to help create commercially-grown boysenberries, youngberries, and loganberries. The propensity of trailing blackberry to grow on poor and infertile soil and prevent soil erosion lends itself to rehabilitation plantings along the West Coast. (4)
