Wineberry

There are isolated reports of wineberry in all Great Lakes jurisdictions but Minnesota and Ontario. Nationally, it is most common in the mid-Atlantic region and southern New England. 

Additional invasive species distribution data for specific Great Lakes jurisdictions is available via:

• Midwest Invasive Species Information Network (Michigan)
• iMapInvasives (New York and Pennsylvania)
• EDDMapS Ontario

Seed is spread over long distances by birds and mammals, which eat the fruit.

Wineberry prefers disturbed habitats with rich, moist soils, but can occur in a number of habitat types, including forest edges, open woodlands, forest understories, wetlands, streamside areas, fields, and disturbed lands (Innes 2009). Vegetative reproduction, fruit production, and seedling establishment are limited to higher light environments such as treefall gaps, but plants persist in shade (Gorchov et al. 2011).

In optimal conditions, wineberry can form dense thickets that are impassible due to the thorniness of the canes. Although most species in the Rubus genus form thickets, wineberry thickets have been found to grow more densely than those of native Rubus species (Innes 2009). Wineberry out-can overtop native vegetation, blocking access to light.

Wineberry was originally brought to North America in the late 1800’s for use in breeding new commercial varieties of raspberry and blackberry (Innes 2009). Where not prohibited by regulation, it is still occasionally sold for fruit production though is not broadly available from nurseries.

None.

Please see our Landscape Alternatives pages for more information about how the WIGL Collaborative selected alternatives.

Green = native to part of the Great Lakes Basin

The WIGL Collaborative’s decision trees are designed to help site users, who are perhaps newly discovering that plants that are part of their home landscaping are invasive, prioritize which species should be removed first based on risk to the surrounding environment, economy, and occasionally, to human health. In a perfect world, everybody would remove all invasive plants from their landscaping right away, but in reality, removing mature woody plants involve a hefty investment of time and/or money. These diagrams can help people with multiple woody invasives in their landscaping prioritize to get the most benefit for their efforts.

To learn more about the methodology and information used to develop the decision trees and for helpful hints on how to answer the questions, please see the full report here (PDF).

The following is a brief overview of management techniques shown to be effective on wineberry. For more detailed information on how to use these techniques, visit our Management and Control page. For local assistance managing woody invasive species, please get in touch with a cooperative invasive species management group or a university extension program.

Timing and spread concerns: Early detection is an advantage in managing any invasive species, but this is especially true for wineberry due to its limited distribution in the Great Lakes region. Whenever possible, individual plants should be controlled before they are able to fruit in order to prevent spread. If control is undertaken after plants have fruited, it is best not to remove the plants from the site to avoid spreading seed. 

Physical control: Wineberry plants can be pulled or dug up from moist soil, as long as all roots and cane fragments are removed. This is most readily accomplished when the soil is moist. Wineberry regrows vigorously from cut stems after injury, so methods that top-kill plants, such as prescribed fire, grazing, and cutting, are unlikely to provide effective long-term control and can make the infestation worse over time. However these methods and directed heating may be helpful for reducing the height of large thorny thickets for follow-up with foliar herbicide. 

Chemical control and combined approaches: Foliar and cut stump herbicide treatments are effective. Foliar spray may be the most feasible control method for a large, dense infestation, and is effective when plants are actively growing and fully leafed out. It may be most practicable when combined with top killing methods early in the season with foliar herbicide applied to regrowth. Cut stump treatment can be applied during most of the year outside of early spring. In all cases, herbicide should be selected carefully based on site conditions, and label directions read and followed carefully. 

With any treatment, it will be necessary to monitor for and treat regrowth and new seedlings in subsequent years.

Resources on management of wineberry:

• USFS Fire Effects Information System

• Gorchov, DL, Thompson, E, O’Neill, J, Whigham, D, and DA Noe. 2011. Treefall gaps required for establishment, but not survival, of invasive Rubus phoenicolasius in deciduous forest, Maryland, USA. Plant Species Biology. 26: 221-234.
• Innes, RJ. 2009. Rubus phoenicolasius . In: Fire Effects Information System (Online). U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory. 5/23/2019.