The stem is stout, up to 2–3 centimetres (3⁄4–1+1⁄4 in) diameter at the base, and green; it is polygonal (usually hexagonal) in cross-section, with fearsome thorns up to 1.5 cm long forming along the ribs.

These leaflets are oval-acute, dark green above and pale to whitish below, with a toothed margin, and snaring, hooked thorns along the midrib on the underside.

Mature plants form a tangle of dense arching stems, the branches rooting from the node tip when they reach the ground.

[4] The fleshy growing cane tips contain the antifeedant compounds, 2-heptanol and methyl salicylate at higher concentrations than mature leaves.

[6][7][8] Flora of North America, published in 2014, considers the taxonomy unsettled, and tentatively uses the older name Rubus bifrons.

[9] Luther Burbank, who popularized the misleading name "Himalayan", introduced Rubus armeniacus to North America in 1885 in Santa Rosa, California, using seeds that he imported from India.

[18] It is highly flammable and a common ladder fuel for wildfires,[19] due to the litter and dead canes produced by the plant.

[20][21] It is especially established west of the Cascades in the American Pacific Northwest[22] and in parts of southern British Columbia along the coast, in the Lower Mainland, and throughout Vancouver Island.

[15] Unlike other invasive species, this plant can easily establish itself and continue to spread in ecosystems that have not experienced a disturbance.

[25] All of the Himalayan blackberry's adaptations to grow in these conditions continue to make it a difficult plant to remove and an invasive species.

[15] Broken roots can resprout, making manual removal extra labor-intensive, and glyphosate herbicides are largely ineffective with this plant.