In 1885, Luther Burbank introduced a blackberry that later became one of the West Coast’s most invasive shrubs

In 1885, celebrated plant breeder Luther Burbank introduced a new blackberry variety to American gardeners, marketing it as an exceptionally productive fruit plant. He called it the Himalaya Giant blackberry. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says that the same plant is officially recognised as the most invasive non-native shrub on the West Coast of the United States, and it is still spreading.

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