Rubus laciniatus

Rubus laciniatus, the cutleaf evergreen blackberry or evergreen blackberry, is a species of Rubus, native to Eurasia. It is an introduced species in Australia and North America. It has become a weed and invasive species in forested habitats in the United States and Canada, particularly in the Northeast and along the Pacific Coast.[1][2][3]

Cutleaf evergreen blackberry
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae
Genus: Rubus
Species:
R. laciniatus
Binomial name
Rubus laciniatus
Willd. 1806

Description

Rubus laciniatus is a deciduous, bramble-forming shrub growing to 3 meters (10 feet) tall, with prickly shoots. The leaves are palmately compound, with five leaflets, each divided into deeply toothed subleaflets with jagged, thorny tips. The flowers have pink or white petals, the petals deeply cut into 3 lobes at the tip. Fruits are similar to the common blackberry, with a unique, fruitier flavour.[4][5] The fruits are not true berries in the botanical sense.

The species is unusual in the genus in having 3-lobed petals and also in having such deeply divided leaves.[5]

The fruits of this plant are eagerly consumed by a number of animal species, including many birds and mammals.[6] The thickets provide valuable cover for animals.[5][6]

Cultivation

Several commercially important berry cultivars have been bred from this wild Rubus laciniatus species, which has been grown for its fruits since 1770.[6]

References
  1. "Rubus laciniatus". County-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014.
  2. "Rubus laciniatus". Calflora: Information on California plants for education, research and conservation, with data contributed by public and private institutions and individuals, including the Consortium of California Herbaria. Berkeley, California: The Calflora Database – via www.calflora.org.
  3. Queensland Government, European blackberries Rubus fruticosus
  4. Paul Slichter, The Blackberries and Brambles of the Columbia River Gorge of Oregon and Washington, Cutleaf Blackberry, Cut-leaf Blackberry, Cut-leaved Blackberry, Evergreen Blackberry Rubus laciniatus includes description and photos
  5. Alice, Lawrence A.; Goldman, Douglas H.; Macklin, James A.; Moore, Gerry (2014). "Rubus laciniatus". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). 9. New York and Oxford – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
  6. "Rubus laciniatus". Fire Effects Information System (FEIS). US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Forest Service (USFS), Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory – via https://www.feis-crs.org/feis/.
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