Rubus Linnaeus. Subfamily: Rosoideae. Tribe: Rubeae. Blackberry, Raspberry, Dewberry, Wineberry, Bramble.

Key to Rubus

A genus of about 250 species (if treated conservatively) or 2000-3000 microspecies, shrubs (and a few herbs), almost cosmopolitan in temperate areas. While the recent approach of grouping taxa into very broad "species" is not very satisfying, it is impossible at this time to create a coherent finer-scale taxonomy for Rubus across the region, and this treatment must be considered (like all before it) highly provisional. There also remain issues of generic circumscription, with morphologically divergent clades "basal" to the rest of the genus (Carter et al. 2019; Huang et al. 2023), and here treated as separate genera (e.g. Dalibarda and Rubacer in our region).

ID notes:With Dalibarda and Rubacer removed from Rubus, all of our species except R. pubescens have biennial stems. The first year the stems remain sterile and are termed primocanes. The second year, these stems produce lateral branches with flowers and are termed floricanes. Primocane and floricane leaves differ substantially in many species (less so in others).

Ref: Alice & Campbell (1999); Alice et al. (2014) In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (2014); Carter et al. (2019); Huang et al. (2023); Kalkman In Kubitzki et al. (2004); Ladd & Thomas (2015); Robertson (1974); Widrlechner (1998); Widrlechner & Riley (2017). Show full citations.

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