''Rubus plicatus'' is a species of
blackberry
The blackberry is an edible fruit produced by many species in the genus ''Rubus'' in the family Rosaceae, hybrids among these species within the subgenus ''Rubus'', and hybrids between the subgenera ''Rubus'' and ''Idaeobatus''. The taxonomy ...
native to Europe.
Taxonomy
The
type specimen
In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes th ...
of the
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
''
Rubus
''Rubus'' is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, subfamily Rosoideae, with over 1,350 species.
Raspberries, blackberries, and dewberries are common, widely distributed members of the genus. Most of the ...
'' was selected from among
Linnaeus's specimens by Nathaniel Lord Britton and Addison Brown in 1913 as a
herbarium
A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant specimens and associated data used for scientific study.
The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sheet of paper (calle ...
specimen labelled ''
Rubus fruticosus
''Rubus fruticosus'' L. is the ambiguous name of a European blackberry species in the genus ''Rubus'' in the rose family. The name has been interpreted in several ways:
*The species represented by the type specimen of ''Rubus fruticosus'' L., ...
''. This specimen turned out to include a mixture of pieces that apparently belong to ''Rubus plicatus'' and ''
Rubus ulmifolius
''Rubus ulmifolius'' is a species of wild blackberry known by the English common name elmleaf blackberry or thornless blackberry and the Spanish common name ''zarzamora''. It is native to Europe and North Africa, and has also become naturalized ...
''. From these, a component that appears to match ''Rubus plicatus'' was selected to be the type.
The type of ''Rubus plicatus'', however, is a different specimen (which permits an individual botanist to decide that ''R. plicatus'' and ''R. fruticosus'' are not the same species). Whenever ''R. fruticosus'' and ''R. plicatus'' are considered to belong to the same species, the name ''Rubus fruticosus'' has
priority. When one must be listed as a synonym of the other, ''R. fruticosus'' is usually considered to be a
synonym
A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are al ...
of the later name ''Rubus plicatus'',
[ although strictly speaking that choice is contrary to the .
]
References
External links
*
plicatus
Berries
{{Rubus-stub