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One of my blackberries shows a strange malformation of some (but not all) of the flowering canes:

Flower color is purple instead of white and what would usually be the forming berries is strangely elongated and spiked:

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On those canes, the new growth is also somewhat stunted.

The plant has been on the site for a few years and is an offshoot of a plant I had for seven or eight years (on the other side of the house), so it’s nothing that came from a nursery.

Other canes on the same plant show perfectly normal flowers and habit - compare the normal ones in the foreground and the stubby ones in the background:

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I have a horrible suspicion: Could it be rubus stunt? But before I start digging up a salvageable plant, I’ll wait for this community’s input.

Stephie
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  • Looks like herbicide damage to me. It can drift 500 feet from application point depending on air flow. – blacksmith37 Jun 07 '22 at 14:55
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    @blacksmith37 So why would the symptoms be affecting some canes and not others? The damage is clearly limited to *some* canes, and on those it affects the *whole* cane. That doesn’t fit a “where the drift hits” pattern? – Stephie Jun 07 '22 at 14:58
  • I have to wonder if it's one of the many weird viruses they can be subject to, but I can't find symptoms that match this so far. – Ecnerwal Jun 07 '22 at 17:04
  • If herbicide drifted some distance it would likely not have a uniform affect. Per @ Ecnerwal comment; I had a strange disease of "Astor Yellows" attack my lantana , it distorted and killed flowers but had little affect on the leaves. After about 3 years I had to pull out a dozen bushes. – blacksmith37 Jun 07 '22 at 18:20

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