Rubus fruticosus L. is the ambiguous name of a European blackberry species in the genus Rubus (part of the rose family). The name has been interpreted in several ways:
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The species represented by the type specimen of Rubus fruticosus L., which is also the type specimen of the genus Rubus.
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Various species consistent with Carl Linnaeus' original description of the species, which was based on a mixture of specimens now considered to match Rubus ulmifolius and R. plicatus
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a species aggregate (group of similar species) Rubus fruticosus agg. (a nomen ambiguum) that includes most (or rarely all) of a group called Rubus subgenus Rubus
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in a narrow sense, sometimes separated as the section Glandulosus (alternative name: subsection Hiemales), with about 289 microspecies.
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in a broad sense: (1) (i) sections Glandulosus and Rubus sensu (in non-British systems, these two sections are classified together as section Rubus sensu, section Glandulosus being called subsection Hiemales and section Rubus sensu being called subsection Rubus)
[ Section Rubus sensu (about 20 microspecies) are probably hybrids involving members of section Glandulosus with either Rubus idaeus or R. allegheniensis.][ Section Corylifolii (about 24 microspecies) are probably hybrids involving members of section Glandulosus with Rubus caesius.][
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even more broadly, including all the taxa in the subgenus Rubus
Incorrect applications
Apart from the established meaning of
Rubus fruticosus L. as
R. plicatus, the name
R. fruticosus has been incorrectly applied to several species, including:
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Rubus fructicosus Weihe & Nees, Rubi Germ. 24, 1822 -> Rubus montanus Lib. ex Lej., Fl. Spa 2: 317, 1813 (or part of R. montanus)
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Rubus fruticosus G.N.Jones -> Rubus vestitus Weihe
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Rubus fruticosus L. ex Dierb. -> Rubus vulgaris Weihe & Nees
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Rubus fruticosus Lour. -> Rubus cochinchinensis Tratt.
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