Common Name:
BRISTLY BLACKBERRY
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Coefficient of Conservatism:
3
Coefficient of Wetness:
-3
Wetness Index:
FACW
Physiognomy:
Nt Shrub
R. W. Smith
Sandy fields, barrens, pine or aspen savanna, shores, and forested dunes; also in moist places: meadows, borders of marshes and swamps, even bog mats.
This is a group of essentially northern range, well represented in Michigan. Plants of this complex are in some ways often quite similar to those of the R. hispidus complex, especially in the bristles or elongate slender prickles; and the leaflets may also have the veins impressed above; however, the habit is generally a little stouter, with erect, ascending, or arching (but sometimes trailing) canes of medium size and not ordinarily rooting at the tip. The leaflets tend to be larger and acute to acuminate and deciduous. The flowers, too, run larger, and the inflorescence tends to be a broad but relatively few-flowered raceme, often glandular. This complex, unfortunately, seems like a repository for plants with the armature of R. hispidus but differing in enough other characters so as not to fit comfortably in that complex.