Relationships between weedy and commercially grown Rubus species
G. McGregor, Institute for Horticultural Development, Knoxfield, Private Bag 15, South-Eastern Mail Centre, Victoria 3176, Australia.
Summary
The cultivated blackberries grown in Australia are all complex hybrids, mostly derived from successive generations of controlled crosses. They may be grouped according to derivation as (i) mainly Rubus ursinus germplasm; (ii) derivatives of R. ulmifolius crossed with R. argutus and R. alleghaniensis, and (iii) derivatives of R. alleghaniensis. Cultivated blackberries do not manifest weedy behaviour or represent a threat to Australian ecosystems, either through naturalization or hybridization. Hybridization between crop Rubus and weedy Rubus is slight, and produces hybrids less adapted to survival as weeds than seedlings of weedy Rubus.
Plant Protection Quarterly (1998) 13 (4) 157-159.