# Allegheny Blackberry (Rubus allegheniensis)

> The common wild blackberry of eastern woods edges and old fields, a thorny thicket of arching canes with sweet black berries in midsummer.

Also called common blackberry, highbush blackberry. Category: Nut & Fruit Trees. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/allegheny-blackberry/

![Allegheny blackberry (Rubus allegheniensis) in fall, five toothed leaflets turned wine red on a bristly stalk](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/allegheny-blackberry-h1610-800.jpg)
*Photo: Blue Whale Trees*

## Facts

- Type: Shrub
- Mature height: 3 to 8 ft
- USDA hardiness zones: 3 to 8
- Grows wild in: Dry uplands, rocky ground, old fields and edges
- Native range: 31 states and [the District of Columbia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DC), north to [Minnesota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MN), south to [Georgia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=GA) and west to [Nebraska](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NE) ([Alabama](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AL), [Arkansas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AR), [Connecticut](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CT), [Delaware](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DE), [Georgia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=GA), [Illinois](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IL), [Indiana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IN), [Iowa](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IA), [Kansas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=KS), [Kentucky](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=KY), [Maine](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ME), [Maryland](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MD), [Massachusetts](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MA), [Michigan](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MI), [Minnesota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MN), [Missouri](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MO), [Nebraska](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NE), [New Hampshire](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NH), [New Jersey](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NJ), [New York](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NY), [North Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NC), [Ohio](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OH), [Oklahoma](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OK), [Pennsylvania](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=PA), [Rhode Island](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=RI), [South Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=SC), [Tennessee](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TN), [Vermont](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VT), [Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VA), [West Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WV), [Wisconsin](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WI) and [the District of Columbia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DC)). Also recorded, not native, in [California](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CA)
- Sun: Full, Part
- Soil moisture: Average, Dry
- Growth rate: Fast
- Flowers: May to July
- Fruit: Berries, July to August
- First crop: 2 years
- Mature spread: 10 ft
- Traits: Edible, Wildlife value, Drought tolerant, Fall color, Honey tree, Bears young
- Sold as: Saplings, Seed

Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them.

## Availability

Saplings ship [bare-root](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/planting-bare-root-trees-on-arrival/index.html.md) or [in a pot](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/a-sapling-in-a-pot/index.html.md), [usually 12 to 18 inches tall](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/small-sapling-or-big-transplant/index.html.md), in the dormant season, and their [height and age](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/reading-a-nursery-listing/index.html.md) are stated with the price, once available. Live plants ship February to May. Not priced yet: leave an email on the web page for one email when it is priced, with a code for 10% off the plants in that order, not shipping or tax, or write to captain@bluewhaletrees.com.

## Notes

Allegheny blackberry is the common blackberry of eastern North America and the wild form from which many cultivated blackberries were selected. Its stout canes carry broad-based thorns, and the flower clusters bristle with gland-tipped hairs. It grows wild in old fields, open woods, glades and fencerows and along forest edges. Its thickets shelter rabbits and nesting birds, and native bees nest in the dead, hollow canes. Mass it along a sunny field edge or fence row as a fruiting thicket for wildlife and pies.

## Size, growth and what to expect

Allegheny blackberry grows fast, nearly three feet a year in our growth estimator, into a thicket of arching canes 3 to 8 feet tall and 4 to 10 feet across. Its roots live on for years, while each cane lives two summers. The leaves turn red, orange or purple in fall.

White flowers about an inch across open in long clusters from May into July. The berries ripen in July and August, black, juicy and sweet, about three quarters of an inch long, and each one comes off with its core inside. Wild turkeys feed heavily on them in summer, and songbirds, foxes, raccoons, black bears, deer and many small mammals eat them too.

It grows wild from Nova Scotia and Quebec west to Minnesota, and south to North Carolina, Alabama, Arkansas and Oklahoma. It lives in old fields and pastures, open woods, glades, prairies, rock outcrops and fencerows. It has strayed into British Columbia and California, where it is rare. At the edges of its range it is scarce, critically imperiled in Alabama and imperiled in Kansas.

## How to grow Allegheny Blackberry

Allegheny blackberry fruits best in full sun, and in shade it bears poorly and suffers more disease. It takes clay, loam or rocky soil that drains well, and once settled it stands drought. It spreads into a thicket and can turn aggressive, and an old patch is hard to get rid of, so choose its place with care. Keep it away from a patch of garden raspberries or blackberries, since wild brambles nearby can bring diseases into the patch. Set plants 4 feet apart, and keep each one 5 feet from a wall. It is small enough to stand within 15 feet of overhead wires.

Saplings ship bare-root or potted. Plant them in early spring while they are still dormant, in a hole wide enough to spread the roots. Set the crown about 2 inches below the soil line, put the native soil back in, and water it well. Sow the cleaned seed outdoors in late summer or early fall, an eighth of an inch deep. For spring, hold the seed damp in the refrigerator for 60 to 120 days first. Seedlings come up in spring, some not until the second or third. Most plants are raised from divisions or cuttings, since seed is slow and uneven to sprout. Seed-grown plants vary in the size and flavor of their berries, and none comes true to a named garden variety.

Water weekly through the first summer, and again in dry spells while the berries swell. When new canes reach 30 to 36 inches, cut off their tips so they branch. After the harvest, cut the canes that fruited to the ground, and thin the new ones to the strongest three to six. In winter, shorten the side branches to 12 to 14 inches for larger berries. Deer and rabbits browse the leaves, though deer seldom do much harm.

Each flower carries both male and female parts, and a blackberry's own pollen is often enough to set fruit, so a single plant bears. Many kinds of native bees work the flowers, along with butterflies and other insects. Each cane bears in its second summer and then dies, so a seedling first fruits in its second year. Japanese beetles, stink bugs, spotted wing drosophila and crown borers are the insects to watch. Orange rust, anthracnose and cane blight are among its diseases.

## Sources

- [NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: Rubus allegheniensis](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/rubus-allegheniensis/)
- [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Rubus allegheniensis](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=RUAL)
- [Flora of North America, Volume 9: Rubus allegheniensis (Alice, Goldman, Macklin and Moore)](http://floranorthamerica.org/Rubus_allegheniensis)
- [Missouri Department of Conservation Field Guide: Common blackberry](https://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/common-blackberry)
- [Virginia Tech Dendrology: Alleghany blackberry](https://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=139)
- [Native Plant Trust, Go Botany: Rubus allegheniensis](https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/rubus/allegheniensis/)
- [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual (Agriculture Handbook 727, 2008): Rubus, blackberry, raspberry](https://www.fs.usda.gov/nsl/Wpsm/Rubus.pdf)
- [Clemson Cooperative Extension Home and Garden Information Center: Blackberry](https://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheet/blackberry/)
- [University of Minnesota Extension: Growing raspberries in the home garden](https://extension.umn.edu/garden-and-home/yard-and-garden/gardening-in-minnesota/growing-raspberries-in-the-home-garden)
- [NatureServe Explorer: Rubus allegheniensis](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.961897/Rubus_allegheniensis)
- [Alabama Natural Heritage Program: Alabama Inventory List, November 2023](https://cosam.auburn.edu/biology/alnhp/_assets/2023_trackinglist.pdf)
- [USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: Rubus allegheniensis](https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/RUAL)

## Read before planting

- [Ten planting mistakes that quietly kill trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/ten-planting-mistakes/index.html.md)
- [Transplanting young trees: timing, water and protection](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/transplanting-young-trees/index.html.md)
- [Protecting young trees from voles, rabbits, deer and squirrels](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protecting-trees-from-animals/index.html.md)
- [Poison ivy and the native plants that look like it](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/poison-ivy-and-its-native-look-alikes/index.html.md)
- [The habitat around a tree is part of the tree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/habitat-around-a-tree/index.html.md)
- [What a young tree looks like: first-year seedlings of oak, walnut, hickory, chestnut, maple and redbud, and the weed trees to pull](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/what-a-young-tree-looks-like/index.html.md)

## Related

- Other brambles (Rubus) we grow: [American Red Raspberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-red-raspberry/index.html.md), [Black Raspberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-raspberry/index.html.md)
- Plants that share its sun and soil: [New Jersey Tea](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/new-jersey-tea/index.html.md), [Common Prickly Ash (Toothache Tree)](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/common-prickly-ash/index.html.md), [Downy Arrowwood](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/downy-arrowwood/index.html.md) and [Fragrant Sumac](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/fragrant-sumac/index.html.md)
- Trees to plant it under: [Common Hackberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/common-hackberry/index.html.md), [Western Soapberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/western-soapberry/index.html.md) and [Winged Elm](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/winged-elm/index.html.md)
- Same size, similar character: [Black Raspberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-raspberry/index.html.md), [American Red Raspberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-red-raspberry/index.html.md), [Red Chokeberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/red-chokeberry/index.html.md) and [Common Juniper](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/common-juniper/index.html.md)
- [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Allegheny Blackberry, add ?species=allegheny-blackberry with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address; for example, the verdict for zone 3, part sun and average soil as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=allegheny-blackberry&zone=3&sun=part&moisture=average
- [Companion species for Allegheny Blackberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=allegheny-blackberry): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard.
- [Tree growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate for Allegheny Blackberry as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=allegheny-blackberry (add height=, years= and site= poor, average or good)
- [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Allegheny Blackberry is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan for it as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=allegheny-blackberry (add state= and zone= for your own frost dates, method=fridge for the refrigerator route)
- [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Allegheny Blackberry needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the verdict for 1 of them as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=allegheny-blackberry:1
- [Planting-window tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md): when to plant Allegheny Blackberry where you live, as a fall and a spring window from the local frost dates; the windows as Markdown are at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=allegheny-blackberry&state=MO&zone=6 with your own state and zone in place of those
- [Planting-distance tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md): how far Allegheny Blackberry goes from a house, a septic field, a walk, wires, a property line and the next tree; the distances as Markdown are at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=allegheny-blackberry&near=house,septic,pavement,wires,boundary,tree
- [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Allegheny Blackberry flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species; its own row and the gaps of a planting with it as Markdown at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=allegheny-blackberry