ROSACEAE

ROSE FAMILY

Annual to tree
Leaves simple to pinnately to palmately compound, generally alternate; stipules free to fused, persistent to deciduous
Inflorescence: cyme, raceme, panicle, or flowers solitary
Flower generally bisexual, radial; hypanthium free or fused to ovary, saucer- to funnel-shaped, often with bractlets alternate with sepals; sepals generally 5; petals generally 5, free; stamens (0)5–many, pistils (0)1–many, simple or compound; ovary superior to inferior, styles 1–5
Fruit: achene, follicle, drupe, pome, or blackberry- to raspberry-like
Seeds generally 1–5
Genera in family: 110 genera, ± 3000 species: worldwide, especially temp. Many cultivated for ornamental and fruit, especially Cotoneaster , Fragaria , Malus , Prunus , Pyracantha, Rosa , and Rubus
Reference: [Robertson 1974 J Arnold Arbor 55:303–332,344–401,611–662]
Family description, key to genera by Barbara Ertter and Dieter H. Wilken.

RUBUS

Barbara Ertter

Perennial to shrub, often bramble-forming, often prickly, prostrate or clambering to erect
Leaves generally palmately lobed to compound; leaflets often stalked, toothed
Inflorescence various
Flower: hypanthium shallow; bractlets 0; sepals 5, generally reflexed, tips generally linear; petals 5; stamens generally > 20; pistils few–many, ovaries superior, jointed to slender to club-shaped styles
Fruit: aggregate of sweet, fleshy-coated achenes (drupelets) that generally separate jointly from receptacle (raspberry-like) or separate jointly with part of fleshy receptacle (blackberry-like)
Species in genus: 200–700 species: worldwide, especially n temp, Andes
Etymology: (Latin: ancient name for bramble)
Coastal forms often have smaller, hairier, rounder leaves; hybrids and other escapes from cultivated expected.

Native

R. ursinus Cham. & Schldl.

CALIFORNIA BLACKBERRY

Plant clambering, generally dioecious
Stem 2–10 mm diam, round; prickles slender, ± straight
Leaf generally 3(7)-lobed or compound; stipules linear; petiole ± 2–5 cm; blade ± 2–10 cm, irregularly toothed, green below; longest leaflet stalk 0–30 mm; longest leaflet blade elliptic-ovate to ± cordate
Inflorescence: ± cyme, few-flowered, often glandular
Flower generally unisexual; sepal tips 0–2 mm; petals 5–25 mm, ± elliptic, white; pistils generally > 10
Fruit blackberry-like, oblong to spheric, black, generally glabrous
Chromosomes: n=21,28,42
Ecology: Common. Generally moist places, scrub, streamsides
Elevation: < 1500 m.
Bioregional distribution: California Floristic Province
Distribution outside California: to British Columbia, Idaho
Synonyms: var. sirbenus (L.H. Bailey) J.T. Howell; R. macropetalus Hook.; R. vitifolius Cham. & Schldl. including var. eastwoodianus (Rydb.) Munz
Variable, especially hairs. An ancestor of loganberry, boysenberry
Horticultural information: SUNorSHD: 4, 5, 6, 17 &IRR: 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24; also STBL; INV.