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European dewberry (Rubus caesius)

European dewberry Description: Cultivated for its fruit and as an ornamental plant. Not commonly found in North America, however, it has been found in Kentucky and New York with more recent reports on uncultivated sites in Michigan and Iowa.

Habit: Shrub growing to a height of 1.5 - 7 feet tall.

Leaves: Alternate, trifoliolate. Petioles 4-6 cm. long, often glandular. Stipules lanceolate, 0.6-1 cm. long, 0.2-0.3 cm. wide, hairy, marginal glands. Leaflets thin, broadly ovate to almost round, 4-7 cm. long, 3-7 cm. wide, basally round, doubly serrate margins. Blade somewhat pubescent, lighter green abaxially. Lateral leaflets nearly sessile, terminal leaflets have 1-2.5 cm. long petiolule that is glandular.

Stems: Round canes, tinged red when exposed to sunlight, greenish-yellow to brown in color, glabrous to glabresent, glaucous with irregular, hooked prickles, root at tips. Reaching a height of about 5 feet.

Flowers: Perfect, white in color, up to 6 cm. across, 5 parted calyx and corolla. Corymbose inflorescence that can be axillary or terminal bearing up to 10 flowers; terminal inflorescences reach up to 14 cm long and bear the most flowers. Pedicel is 1-1.5 cm. long, pubescent, glandular, covered with small prickles. Bracts broadly lanceolate, pubescent or glandular pubescent, 0.5-0.8 cm. long.

Fruit and seeds: Cluster of drupes, bluish-black in color, glaucous. Drupelets are irregular sized and contain one seed each. Seeds are 2.2-3.2 mm. long and 1.3-2 mm. across.

Habitat: Native to Europe and Asia. Can be found in roadsides, wood margins, riverbanks, valleys, ravines and mid-successional dunes.

Reproduction: Vegetatively by runner-like shoots and by seeds dispersed by animals.

Similar species: Other species of blackberries (Rubus spp.).

Credits: The information provided in this factsheet was gathered from CLIMBERS: Censusing Lianas In Mesic Biomes of Eastern Regions and NatureGate.

Individual species images that appear with a number in a black box are courtesy of the Bugwood.org network (http://www.invasive.org).Individual photo author credits may not be included due to the small display size of the images and subsequent difficulty of reading the provided text. All other images appear courtesy of Google (http://images.google.com).


Common Name:

European dewberry

Scientific Name:

Rubus caesius

Family:

Rosaceae
(Rose)

Duration:

Perennial

Habit:

Shrubs

USDA Symbol:

RUCA