''Rubus canadensis'' is a North American species of flowering plant in the

rose family Rosaceae (), the rose family, is a family of flowering plants that includes 4,828 known species in 91 genera. The name is derived from the type genus ''Rosa''. The family includes herbs, shrubs, and trees. Most species are deciduous, but some ...

known by the common names smooth blackberry, Canadian blackberry, thornless blackberry and smooth highbush blackberry. It is native to central and eastern Canada (from

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

) and the eastern United States (

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

, the

Great Lakes region The Great Lakes region of Northern America is a binational Canadian– American region centered on the Great Lakes that includes the U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin and the Ca ...

, and the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain ...

).Coladonato, Milo. 1994
''Rubus canadensis''.
In: Fire Effects Information System, nline U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory. It has also been sparingly recorded in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

, in which it is often confused for the many other native blackberry species. This

rhizomatous In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

forms thickets up to tall. The leaves are deciduous and alternately arranged, each measuring long. The inflorescence is a cluster of up to 25 flowers. The fruit is an aggregate of many small

drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is a type of fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pip'' (UK), ''pit'' (US), ''stone'', or ''pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed ...

s, each of which contains a tiny nutlet. The plant reproduces by seed, by sprouting up from the rhizome, and by

layering Layering can refer to: * Layering (horticulture), a means of vegetative propagation * Layering (finance), a strategy in high frequency trading * Layering (linguistics), a principle by which grammaticalisation can be detected * Surface layering ...

. The stems can grow in height in under two months.Flora of North America, ''Rubus canadensis'' Linnaeus, 1753. Canadian or smooth highbush blackberry, ronce du Canada
/ref> ''Rubus canadensis'' grows in many types of forested habitat, as well as on disturbed sites. Associated plants may include mountain maple ('' Acer spicatum''),

serviceberry ''Amelanchier'' ( ), also known as shadbush, shadwood or shadblow, serviceberry or sarvisberry (or just sarvis), juneberry, saskatoon, sugarplum, wild-plum or chuckley pear,A Digital Flora of Newfoundland and Labrador Vascular Plants/ref> is a ...

(''

Amelanchier ''Amelanchier'' ( ), also known as shadbush, shadwood or shadblow, serviceberry or sarvisberry (or just sarvis), juneberry, saskatoon, sugarplum, wild-plum or chuckley pear,A Digital Flora of Newfoundland and Labrador Vascular Plants/ref> is a ...

'' spp.),

hobblebush ''Viburnum lantanoides'' (commonly known as hobble-bush, witch-hobble, alder-leaved viburnum, American wayfaring tree, and moosewood) is a perennial shrub of the family Adoxaceae (formerly in the Caprifoliaceae), growing high with pendulous bra ...

('' Viburnum alnifolium''), scarlet elder (''

Sambucus pubens ''Sambucus racemosa'' subsp. ''pubens'', the American red elder, is a subspecies of red-berried elder ('' Sambucus racemosa'') native to North America. The inflorescence is a rounded panicle, making the plant easy to distinguish from the more co ...

''), common blackberry ('' Rubus allegheniensis''), beaked hazel ('' Corylus cornuta''), southern mountain cranberry (''

Vaccinium erythrocarpum ''Vaccinium erythrocarpum'', commonly known as southern mountain cranberry or bearberry, more rarely as mountain blueberry or dingleberry, is a deciduous flowering shrub native to the Southeastern United States. Description ''Vaccinium erythroca ...

''), minnie-bush ''( Menziesia pilosa),'' and

rosebay Rosebay is a common name for several plants Rosebay may refer to: * ''Nerium oleander'', a shrub in the family Apocynaceae, native to the Mediterranean region and cultivated in other warm subtropical areas * '' Chamerion angustifolium'', a herbace ...

(''

Rhododendron catawbiense ''Rhododendron catawbiense'', with common names Catawba rosebay, Catawba rhododendron, mountain rosebay, purple ivy, purple laurel, purple rhododendron, red laurel, rosebay, rosebay laurel, is a species of ''Rhododendron'' native to the eastern ...

''). Many types of animals feed on the fruits and foliage of this shrub. The thickets provide cover and nesting sites. The fruits of this plant provided food for Native American groups, who also used parts of the plant medicinally at times.''Rubus canadensis''.
University of Michigan Ethnobotany.

References

External links

* *
The Nature Conservancy
* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q3446528 canadensis Flora of Canada Flora of the Eastern United States Flora of the Appalachian Mountains Flora of the Great Lakes region (North America) Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus