mystery thorny vine...

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Koda
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mystery thorny vine...

Post by Koda » October 5th, 2014, 7:46 pm

been curious to this for a while. This looks like some kind of blackberry vine, yet it doesn't grow into a bush nor produce berries... that I have ever seen... and I've seen plenty of these over the years. This vine grows primarily, and flourishes in the Oregon Coast range. Its completely ground dwelling, the vines shoot out and trip you. The tiny thorns aren't long and firm like regular backberry bush, but they will destroy a pair of goretex boots with thousands of tiny holes.
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adamschneider
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Re: mystery thorny vine...

Post by adamschneider » October 5th, 2014, 8:32 pm

It's our native blackberry, Rubus ursinus. It's common in the forest (Coast Range, Gorge, Cascade foothills... pretty much all over the place), but you almost never see it produce fruit there. Occasionally you can find berries on it when it gets some sun.

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Koda
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Re: mystery thorny vine...

Post by Koda » October 5th, 2014, 8:41 pm

thanks Adam, I figured it was a type of blackberry but since I've never seen it bush up or produce berries I was wondering. They shoot these very long vines out at ground level that I always snag, has ruined at least one pair of brand new goretext boots (never again...) now for bushwhacking in the coast I only use full leather goretext or just some cheap rubber boots. The nylon lightweight goretext just don't hold up.
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Sean Thomas
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Re: mystery thorny vine...

Post by Sean Thomas » October 9th, 2014, 11:31 pm

I always thought trailing blackberry was kind of pretty, but have defintely tripped over it a few times too. Here is a nice description from an online plant database

"This is not the big brambly invasive bully lining area rivers and roadways. Although our native blackberry likes to spread, it does not form self supported brambles. Instead it rambles about the landscape as a vine-like ground cover."

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