''Rubus pascuus'' is an uncommon North American species of brambles in the rose family. It grows only in the United States, primarily in the Ozarks of

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

and

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

but with scattered populations farther east in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, and the

Carolinas The Carolinas are the U.S. states of North Carolina and South Carolina, considered collectively. They are bordered by Virginia to the north, Tennessee to the west, and Georgia to the southwest. The Atlantic Ocean is to the east. Combining Nort ...

. The genetics of ''Rubus'' is extremely complex, so that it is difficult to decide on which groups should be recognized as species. There are many rare species with limited ranges such as this. Further study is suggested to clarify the taxonomy.

Description

Coarse, woody canes, often 2-5 m long and heavily armed with strong, flattened and sometimes recurved prickles. Differentiated into first-year stems, usually without flowers or fruit (primocanes) and 2nd-year stems with flowers and fruit (floricanes). Strong, recurved prickles also arm the underside of the leaves and the stems of the flowering/fruiting area (raceme). Stems covered by short, fine, grayish hairs (canescent). Flower petals white to pale-pink. Fruits turn from green to red to dark purple or black as they ripen. Fruit breaks off with the tip of the stem inside (retaining the receptacle) like a typical blackberry, as opposed a

Raspberry The raspberry is the edible fruit of a multitude of plant species in the genus ''Rubus'' of the rose family, most of which are in the subgenus '' Idaeobatus''. The name also applies to these plants themselves. Raspberries are perennial with w ...

fruit which separates from the receptacle, leaving a little concave hole inside the fruit. Fruits are edible and taste like any other blackberry. Leaves mostly compound, consisting of 3 leaflets (trifoliate), the central leaflet on a short stalk (rachis), the side leaflets touching (sessile) the leaf stalk (petiole). Leaflets generally oval (ovate-oblong), the tips slightly tapering to a small peak (acute), the margins with tiny, irregular teeth (coarsely double-serrate). The side leaflets on the primocane occasionally slightly lobed. The underside of the leaves are very light/bright grayish with little hairs (tomentose). The whitish underside of the leaves sets it apart from similar species with recurved prickles such as Rubus argutus.

References

External links

* pascuus Plants described in 1943 Flora of the United States {{Rubus-stub