Blackberry fruit production is abundant with annual volumes of 20,000 pounds (9,100 kg) per 1 acre (0.40 ha) possible, making this plant commercially attractive.

[1] Rubus armeniacus ("Himalayan" blackberry) is considered a noxious weed and invasive species in many regions of the Pacific Northwest of Canada and the United States, where it grows out of control in urban and suburban parks and woodlands.

Briar or brier may be used to refer to the dense vines of the plant, though this name is used for other thorny thickets (such as Smilax) as well.

It is a widespread and well-known group of over 375 species, many of which are closely related apomictic microspecies native throughout Europe, northwestern Africa, temperate western and central Asia and North and South America.

[8][9] Unmanaged plants tend to aggregate in a dense tangle of stems and branches,[3] which can be controlled in gardens or farms using trellises.

[1][8] Blackberry shrubs can tolerate poor soils, spreading readily in wasteland, ditches, and roadsides.

Caterpillars of the concealer moth Alabonia geoffrella have been found feeding inside dead blackberry shoots.

When mature, the berries are eaten and their seeds dispersed by mammals, such as the red fox, American black bear, and the Eurasian badger, as well as by small birds.

In 1880, a hybrid blackberry-raspberry named the loganberry was developed in Santa Cruz, California, by an American judge and horticulturalist, James Harvey Logan.

Common thornless cultivars developed from the 1990s to the early 21st century by the US Department of Agriculture enabled efficient machine-harvesting, higher yields, larger and firmer fruit, and improved flavor, including the Triple Crown,[21][22] Black Diamond, Black Pearl, and Nightfall, a marionberry.

[9] 'Marion' (marketed as "marionberry") is an important cultivar that was selected from seedlings from a cross between 'Chehalem' and 'Olallie' (commonly called "Olallieberry") berries.

In addition to the Pacific Northwest, these types do well in similar climates, such as the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Chile, and the Mediterranean countries.

[citation needed] Semi-erect, prickle-free blackberries were first developed at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, UK, and subsequently by the USDA-ARS in Beltsville, Maryland.

[28] They grow much like the other erect cultivars described above; however, the canes that emerge in the spring will flower in midsummer and fruit in late summer or fall.

The fall crop has its highest quality when it ripens in cool mild climates such as in California or the Pacific Northwest.

To produce these blackberries in regions of Mexico where there is no winter chilling to stimulate flower bud development, chemical defoliation and application of growth regulators are used to bring the plants into bloom.

[citation needed] Because blackberries belong to the same genus as raspberries,[31] they share the same diseases, including anthracnose (a type of canker), which can cause the berry to have uneven ripening.

[32][33] They also share the same remedies, including the Bordeaux mixture,[34] a combination of lime, water and copper(II) sulfate.

[21] In the culinary world, blackberries have long been used alongside other fruits to make pies, jellies, and jams.

The wild plants have sharp, thick prickles, which offer some protection against enemies and large animals.

[21] Folklore in the United Kingdom and Ireland tells us that blackberries should not be picked after Old Michaelmas Day (11 October) as the devil (or a Púca) has made them unfit to eat by stepping, spitting or fouling on them.