Rubus caesius is a Eurasian species of dewberry, known as the European dewberry.
Description
Rubus caesius is similar to and often confused with forms of
Rubus fruticosus.
It is a small shrub growing up to tall with biennial stems which die after fruiting in their second year. It sends out long runners which root at the tip to form new plants. The stems are bluish-grey and sometimes prickly. The alternate leaves are hairy above and below. They are stalked and the leaf blades are palmate in shape, either consisting of three oval leaflets with serrated margins and acute points or just being three-lobed. The
inflorescence is a loose cluster of several white flowers about in diameter. The calyx has five
and the corolla is composed of five spreading
with finely toothed margins. There is a boss of stamens in the centre and there are several pistils. The fruit is an aggregate of several black, fleshy
with a bluish waxy bloom. The dewberry flowers from June to September.
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Distribution and habitat
Rubus caesius is widely distributed across much of Europe and Asia from Ireland and Portugal as far east as Xinjiang Province in western China.[ Flora of China, Rubus caesius Linnaeus, 1753. 欧洲木莓 ou zhou mu mei ][ Flora of North America, Rubus caesius Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 493. 1753. European dewberry ][ Altervista Flora Italiana, Rubus caesius L. includes photos and European distribution map]
It most often inhabits areas with rocky, basic soil and light shade.
Ecology
The dewberry can hybridise with the raspberry ( R. idaeus) and the stone bramble ( R. saxatilis).
Genome
Alice et al., 2001 find R. caesius is a tetraploid blackberry which hybridises especially with Rubus idaeus and others of the genus.
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