Your gateway to a wide range of natural resources information and associated maps

Victorian Resources Online

Invasiveness Assessment - Blackberry (Rubus fruticosus agg.) in Victoria (Nox)

Back | Table | Feedback

Plant invasiveness is determined by evaluating a plant’s biological and ecological characteristics against criteria that encompass establishment requirements, growth rate and competitive ability, methods of reproduction, and dispersal mechanisms.

Each characteristic, or criterion, is assessed against a list of intensity ratings. Depending upon information found, a rating of Low, Medium Low, Medium High or High is assigned to that criterion. Where no data is available to answer a criterion, a rating of medium (M) is applied. A description of the invasiveness criteria and intensity ratings used in this process can be viewed here.

The following table provides information on the invasiveness of Blackberry.

A more detailed description of the methodology of the Victorian Weed Risk Assessment (WRA) method can be viewed below:

Victorian Weed Risk Assessment (WRA) method (PDF - 630 KB)
Victorian Weed Risk Assessment (WRA) method (DOC - 1026 KB)
To view the information PDF requires the use of a PDF reader. This can be installed for free from the Adobe website (external link).

Common Name: Blackberry
Scientific name: Rubus fruticosus agg.

Question
Comments
Reference
Rating
Establishment
Germination requirements?Seeds mostly germinate in spring.
P & C (1992)
MH
Establishment requirements?Occurs in orchards, forest plantations and bushland where it would be shaded by overstorey species.
P & C (1992
MH
How much disturbance is required?Weed of bushland. “Blackberry rarely invades virgin bushland but establishes most readily on disturbed sites”.
P & C (1992
MH
Growth/Competitive
Life form?Scrambling shrub.

Other.
P & C (1992
L
Allelopathic properties?None described.
L
Tolerates herb pressure?Not readily consumed by sheep and cattle but is consumed by goats.
P & C (1992
MH
Normal growth rate?“Few other plants can compete and blackberry completely dominates the vegetation of an area in a very short time”.
P & C (1992
H
Stress tolerance to frost, drought, w/logg, sal. etc?Tolerance to water logging, frost (occurs above snow line).
Amor et al (1998)
ML
Reproduction
Reproductive systemReproduces by seed root suckers and layering.
P & C (1992
H
Number of propagules produced?> 2,000 seeds/plant.
See Amor et al (1998) p. 233
H
Propagule longevity??
M
Reproductive period?Forms self-sustaining dense monocultures. (See picture P & C 1992 p. 579).
P & C (1992
H
Time to reproductive maturity?2+ years.
P & C (1992
ML
Dispersal
Number of mechanisms?Birds, foxes, creeks and rivers.
P & C (1992
H
How far do they disperse?“In one study an average of 570 seeds were recovered from fox droppings and 2,460 from EMU droppings”.
P & C (1992
H


Feedback

Do you have additional information about this plant that will improve the quality of the assessment?
If so, we would value your contribution. Click on the link to go to the feedback form.

Page top