On Fri, 11 Apr 2003 08:30:35 -0500, "Guy Bradley"
wrote:

How it ever got to West Virginia is a mystery to
me. Sixty or seventy years ago when the plant was first known to my
mother (who is 89 now), plants were offered around as much as they are
now.

This may be a plant that has spread world wide in temperate regions.
It is cultivated for ornament and fruit. It is easy from seed and the
seeds are spread by birds.
It has been grown at least since the early 1800s, it was found by Lewis
and Clark.