''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 ...

or dewberry, 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 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, ...

. The plant is dioecious, 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 else ...

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. ''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's Agricultural Research Service 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 th ...

, 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, for ...

(Canada);

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a U.S. state, 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 Monta ...

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 Columb ...

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 ...

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 eq ...

, 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, amphibians, ...

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 espaliered or trained on fences and trellising. When mature/established, the plant is effective in stabilizing creek banks and edges of bioswales. To set large fruit, the plant needs consistent amounts of moisture. Otherwise it is moderately drought tolerant 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 Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfami ...

and bumble bee species. This blackberry species is a larval food source for '' Papilio rutulus'' (the western tiger swallowtail butterfly), '' Nymphalis antiopa'' (the mourning cloak butterfly), '' Strymon melinus'' (the gray hairstreak butterfly), and '' Celastrina ladon'' (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,

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 in ...

used ''R. ursinus'' as a fresh and dried fruit source and as a traditional medicinal plant. The Concow tribe calls this plant wân-kö-mil′-ē in the Konkow language.

References

External links