Photo: Mike Dickison — CC BY 4.0 · source
Survives zone 8 through 9
Harvest calendar
Best planted in early spring after your last frost, or in fall before the ground freezes, depending on your climate.
New Zealand's most widespread bush lawyer — an aggressive, self-supporting climber that hooks its way up through the forest canopy on backward-pointing red prickles borne on very long, wiry stems. The small red-to-orange aggregate fruit, produced December to April, is edible but most sources describe it as mild to bland rather than genuinely sweet; it was nonetheless eaten by Māori and used by early European settlers for jams and stews.
- Hardiness
- Zone 8–9
- Habit
- Shrub
- Edible part
- Fruit
- Ripens
- Summer
- Mature size
- Vigorous evergreen climber to 10 m+; strongly hooked prickles
- Light
- Partial — forest-margin climber
- Soil pH
- 5.5–7.0
- Environment
- Temperate rainforest
- Native range
- Endemic to New Zealand, found from coastal to montane elevations, mainly in forest but also in scrub and at wetland margins.
- Status
- Wild
- Years to fruit
- 3–4 yrs
- Growth speed
- Vigorous once established — stems can reach 15 m, among the largest climbing brambles in the genus.
- Spacing
- 250 cm (98 in) apart — about 6.3 m² (67 sq ft) per plant
- Leaf shape
- Compound, leathery, hairless leaves with five leaflets and serrated margins; leaflets are notably long and narrow, 6–15 cm long by only 2–6 cm wide.
- Root system
- A perennial crown and shallow spreading root system in the top 30–40 cm, carrying biennial canes: each cane grows one year, fruits the next, then dies. New shoots come from buds on both the crown and the roots, which is why a bramble returns from root fragments left after digging and why it is so hard to remove once settled.
- Fruit description
- A small red-to-orange, blackberry-shaped aggregate fruit ripening December–April; edible but generally reported as mild or lacking in flavor.
- Propagation
- Readily propagated from layered stems and semi-hardwood cuttings; seed germinates after 4–6 weeks of cold stratification.
- Pollination
- ⚠ DIOECIOUS — needs male and female plants
The edible parts listed above are a starting point, not a field guide. Identify a plant with certainty — ideally against a local authority — before eating any part of it, and read the full disclaimer. Spotted something wrong? Report it.
Growing guide
Fertilizing. Not a heavy feeder — grows in ordinary damp, well-lit forest-margin soil without special amendment.
How it spreads. Climbs via reddish, backward-hooked prickles on the underside of its branchlets rather than spreading underground — this lets it reach up to 15 m into the forest canopy by hauling over other vegetation.
Growing tips. Extremely vicious — young stems are armed with sharp red prickles, and the plant's common name reflects how, once snagged, it doesn't let go without drawing blood; keep it well clear of paths and seating areas. Broadly tolerant of frost, sun, drought, shade and wind, and valued by birds and bees despite its rare use as an ornamental.
Grow journal
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