Himalayan blackberry is the most common introduced blackberry in British Columbia. This species is an aggressive invader that was introduced for its excellent fruit and has become naturalized in many parts of the world. In the Pacific Northwest it occurs from California to British Columbia. Several scientific names have been used for this plant.
Eurasian blackberries are an extremely variable complex of small apomictic species.
Prof. H.E. Weber in Germany helped me to answer the question of the correct name for our Himalayan Blackberries. Last year I sent several specimens of our Himalayan blackberries to Dr. Holub and he identified them as Rubus armeniacus Focke. In California it is rarer and seems not to go south beyond San Francisco. The plant is native to Armenia and was for the first time introduced to Germany about 1835 by Booth, named ' Rubus fruticosus fr. Obviously it was introduced to America 1885 by Luther Burbank, and before 1885 to New Zealand.