I moved to a new house last fall. This spring I noticed a vine growing out of a mass of plants & bushes. This vine is quite different from any of the other plants. I am not able to reach the area where it comes out of the dirt. There have not been any flowers to date (late July). The vine stem is about 4' long, smooth (except for thorns) and green. The vine stem is about 1/8" in diameter and has thorns about 1-2" apart. The thorns are hooked and the tip points toward the root. The leaves are dark green matte finish on top, lighter green matte on bottom. Not fuzzy on either side. The leaflet veins connect at various places along the main vein. There are 5 leaflets attached to the stem. Leaflets range from 2 1/2" to 4 1/2" long. Each leaflet has 3 sub-leaflets which are deeply lobed. The leaf is 8" from tip to the part where the stem attaches to the vine. The leaves are smooth on both sides. The edges of the leaflets are smooth. The thorns are very sharp and are about 1/2" apart on the bottom of the stem getting closer toward the base of the leaflet. There are no thorns on the back of the leaflets. I have attached pictures of the leaf/leaflets, front/back, and thorns. Does anyone know what this is?
Rubus laciniatus, Cutleaf Evergreen Blackberry or Evergreen Blackberry. Native to Europe, now invasive species in the United States (and Canada). Deciduous, bramble-forming shrub with prickly shoots. Leaves are palmately compound, five leaflets divided into deeply toothed subleaflets, jagged, thorny tips. Flowers have pink or white petals. Fruits are similar to the common blackberry, with a unique, fruitier flavour. From: Hansen's Northwest Native Plant Database The Wild Garden: Hansen's Northwest Native Plant Database
Personally, I would eliminate it while it's still relatively small; otherwise you will eventually have a large bramble patch like you see growing beside roads and highways. However, people with enough space in their gardens sometimes leave blackberries to grow along a sunny fence, pruned back every year, so they can enjoy their own supply of the delicious berries. If this vine is growing out of a mass of plants and bushes so that you can't even see where it comes out of the ground, it sounds to me like you have an overgrown area that needs to be tamed before you decide what is worth keeping and what to weed out. At this point, I would say the blackberry should go. You can always start another vine if you really want one.
Thanks for your advice. I did decide to pull it out. Since it is so small (turns out it was 2 vine stems), it may have been "planted" by birds. It was growing in a crowded corner of a small backyard garden and either would not do well, or it would crowd out other plants. This yard has SO many plants that I've never seen before. It is quite the adventure.
I'll have to get my list out and update it. This week there have been several plants identified so I have to update my list and get pics of the ones I still don't know. In addition to the Cutleaf Evergreen Blackberry, I have coreopsis lanceota (just bloomed today), lacy phacelia, and Miribella plum (bright yellow plums). There is one bush/tree that has purple-red leaves that are almost round. The bush part is about 2' high. Out of the bush are 2 8-10' tall trunks that are bare until the last 2' where the purple-red leaves begin again. The way the 2 trunks with "bushes" on the ends bob and sway in the wind reminds me of the headbands with 2 springs attached on top with an eyeball on each spring. I'll have to take a picture tomorrow after the sun rises. This is SO much fun!
