''Rubus ursinus'' is a North American 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 of ...

dewberry The dewberries are a group of species in the genus ''Rubus'', section ''Rubus'', closely related to the blackberries. They are small trailing (rather than upright or high-arching) brambles with aggregate fruits, reminiscent of the raspberry, ...

, known by the common names California blackberry, California dewberry, Douglas berry, Pacific blackberry, Pacific dewberry and trailing blackberry.

Description

''Rubus ursinus'' is a wide, mounding shrub or vine, growing to high, and more than wide.Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Native Plant Information Network−NPIN: ''Rubus ursinus'' (California blackberry, California dewberry, Western blackberry)
/ref> The prickly branches can take root if they touch soil, thus enabling the plant to spread vegetatively and form larger clonal colonies. The

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

usually have 3 leaflets but sometimes 5 or only 1, and are

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

. The plant is

dioecious Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproductio ...

, with male and female plants on separate plants, also unusual for the genus. As with other ''Rubus'', the canes are typically vegetative the first year, and reproductive in the second. The flowers are white with narrower petals than most related species, and have a fragrance. The sweet, very aromatic, edible fruits are dark purple, dark red, or black and up to in length.

Taxonomy

Subspecies and varieties

Current or recent subspecies and varieties include: *''Rubus ursinus'' subsp. ''macropetalus'' — all of distribution range *''Rubus ursinus'' subsp. ''ursinus'' — California and Oregon *''Rubus ursinus'' var. ''sirbenus'' —

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to California *''Rubus ursinus'' var. ''ursinus'' — California and Oregon

Cultivars

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...

of this species named the 'Aughinbaugh' blackberry was a parent of the

loganberry The loganberry (''Rubus'' × ''loganobaccus'') is a hybrid of the North American blackberry (''Rubus ursinus'') and the European raspberry ('' Rubus idaeus''). The plant and the fruit resemble the blackberry more than the raspberry, but the fru ...

. ''R. ursinus'' is also a second-generation parent of the boysenberry and the

marionberry The marionberry (''Rubus L.'' subgenus ''Rubus'') is a cultivar of blackberry developed by the USDA ARS breeding program in cooperation with Oregon State University. A cross between the ' Chehalem' and ' Olallie' varieties,

, or 'Marion' blackberry.L.A. Weekly: "Rubus Ursinus, A Guide to the Elusive Pacific Blackberry"
published 15 March 2012; by Emily Green; accessed 9.9.2015. 'Wild Treasure' has the fruit size and flavor of the wild species, but without prickles, and the berries are machine harvestable. It was released by the

U.S. Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of comme ...

Agricultural Research Service The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the principal in-house research agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). ARS is one of four agencies in USDA's Research, Education and Economics mission area. ARS is charged with ext ...

in 2010, and is a hybrid between a selection of ''R. ursinus'' and 'Waldo' (another cultivar that is a second-generation descendant of the marionberry that has no prickles).

Etymology

The name is from ''rubus'' for "bramble" and ''ursinus'' for "bear".

Distribution

The plant is native to western

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, found in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

(Canada);

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, and

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

(Western U.S.); and

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

state (Mexico).

Cultivation

The plant is cultivated for its fruit, and also

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that i ...

qualities. It is planted in home,

native plant In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often popularised as "with no human intervention") during history. The term is equ ...

, and

wildlife garden A wildlife garden (or wild garden) is an environment created by a gardener that serves as a sustainable haven for surrounding wildlife. Wildlife gardens contain a variety of habitats that cater to native and local plants, birds, amphibian ...

s, and in

natural landscaping Natural landscaping, also called native gardening, is the use of native plants and adapted species, including trees, shrubs, groundcover, and grasses which are local to the geographic area of the garden. Benefits Maintenance Natural land ...

projects.CNPS−California Native Plant Society.org: ''Rubus ursinus'' (California Blackberry−Pacific Blackberry)
/ref> It can be

espalier Espalier ( or ) is the horticultural and ancient agricultural practice of controlling woody plant growth for the production of fruit, by pruning and tying branches to a frame. Plants are frequently shaped in formal patterns, flat against a struct ...

ed or trained on fences and trellising. When mature/established, the plant is effective in stabilizing creek banks and edges of

bioswale Bioswales are channels designed to concentrate and convey stormwater runoff while removing debris and pollution. Bioswales can also be beneficial in recharging groundwater. Bioswales are typically vegetated, mulched, or xeriscaped. They co ...

s. To set large fruit, the plant needs consistent amounts of moisture. Otherwise it is moderately

drought tolerant Drought tolerance is the ability to which a plant maintains its biomass production during arid or drought conditions. Some plants are naturally adapted to dry conditions'','' surviving with protection mechanisms such as desiccation tolerance, deto ...

when established. Seed size seems to be related to fruit "cell" size, and the smallest fully formed berries (about ) are most highly prized. These are sometimes called "little wild blackberries".

Uses

Diverse wildlife eat the berries, including songbirds, deer, bear, and other large and small mammals. It is of notable pollinator and nesting material value for native bee and

bumble bee A bumblebee (or bumble bee, bumble-bee, or humble-bee) is any of over 250 species in the genus ''Bombus'', part of Apidae, one of the bee families. This genus is the only Extant taxon, extant group in the tribe Bombini, though a few extinct r ...

species. This blackberry species is a larval food source for ''

Papilio rutulus ''Papilio rutulus'', the western tiger swallowtail, is a swallowtail butterfly belonging to the ''Papilionidae'' family. The species was first described by Hippolyte Lucas in 1852. Like the other tiger swallowtails, the western tiger swallowt ...

'' (the western tiger swallowtail butterfly), ''

Nymphalis antiopa ''Nymphalis antiopa'', known as the mourning cloak in North America and the Camberwell beauty in Britain, is a large butterfly native to Eurasia and North America. The immature form of this species is sometimes known as the spiny elm caterpillar ...

'' (the mourning cloak butterfly), '' Strymon melinus'' (the gray hairstreak butterfly), and ''

Celastrina ladon ''Celastrina ladon'', the spring azure or echo blue, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in North America from Alaska and Canada south of the tundra, through most of the United States except the Texas coast, southern plain and ...

'' (the spring azure butterfly).Las Pilitas Horticulture Database: ''Rubus ursinus''
/ref> Native Americans such as the

Kumeyaay The Kumeyaay, also known as Tipai-Ipai or by their historical Spanish name Diegueño, is a tribe of Indigenous peoples of the Americas who live at the northern border of Baja California in Mexico and the southern border of California in the Unit ...

Maidu The Maidu are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of northern California. They reside in the central Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada, in the watershed area of the Feather River, Feather and American River, American ...

Pomo The Pomo are an Indigenous people of California. Historical Pomo territory in Northern California was large, bordered by the Pacific Coast to the west, extending inland to Clear Lake, and mainly between Cleone and Duncans Point. One small ...

and

Salish peoples The Salish peoples are indigenous peoples of the American and Canadian Pacific Northwest, identified by their use of the Salish languages which diversified out of Proto-Salish between 3,000 and 6,000 years ago. The term “Salish” originated i ...

used ''R. ursinus'' as a fresh and dried fruit source and as a traditional

medicinal plant Medicinal plants, also called medicinal herbs, have been discovered and used in traditional medicine practices since prehistoric times. Plants synthesize hundreds of chemical compounds for various functions, including Plant defense against her ...

. The Concow tribe calls this plant wân-kö-mil′-ē in the

Konkow language The Konkow language, also known as Northwest Maidu (also ''Concow-Maidu'', or ' in the language itself) is a part of the Maiduan language group. It is spoken in California. It is severely endangered, with three remaining elders who learned to s ...

References

External links