Burke: Rubus ursinus vs. Rubus nigerrimus

	Rubus ursinus	Rubus nigerrimus
	Pacific blackberry, trailing blackberry, dewberry, Douglasberry	dark raspberry, northwest raspberry
Habit	Dioecious perennial with slender, trailing stems up to 6 m. long, abundantly armed with slender, hooked prickles.	Strong, deciduous perennial, the primocanes erect to clambering, glabrous, greenish and glaucous, up to 5 m. long, the prickles straight and flattened; flowering stems trailing, up to 5 m. long, armed with flattened, hooked prickles.
Leaves	Leaves trifoliate, the lateral leaflets ovate-lanceolate, 3-7 cm. long, doubly serrate; terminal leaflet larger, deeply 3-lobed.	Leaves green and glabrous on both surfaces, trifoliate on the flowering stems but 5- foliate on the canes, the lower 2 leaflets sessile; leaflets ovate-lanceolate, doubly lobed-serrate.
Flowers	Floral branches several, 1-3 dm. long, erect, bearing several leaves and 1-several flat-topped flower clusters, the inflorescence with stalked glands; calyx hairy and glandular, the 5 lobes lanceolate, 5-11 mm. long; staminate petals 5, white, elliptic-spatulate, 7-11 mm. long, with 75-100 stamens; pistillate petals broader and shorter, with numerous pistils.	Flowers 1-5 in small, loose clusters; sepals 5, spreading, 5-8 mm. long; petals white, elliptic, 4-7 mm. long, often more than 5; stamens 75-100, pistils 25-40.
Fruits	Drupelets purplish-black, coherent, attached to the elongate receptacle; fruit up to 2.5 cm. long.	Drupelets barely coalescent, blackish, strongly roughened, rather dry, free from the receptacle.

	Rubus ursinus	Rubus nigerrimus
Flowering time	April-August	May - June
Habitat	Open to fairly dense woodlands, thickets, and balds, sea level to middle elevations in the mountains; common in logged areas.	Moist hillsides, usually along streams.
Distribution	Occurring chiefly west of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to Montana. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Occurring east of the Cascades crest, where endemic along the Snake River in Whitman County, Washington; [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native	Native
Conservation status	Not of concern	Threatened in Washington (WANHP)
Sibling taxa	R. allegheniensis, R. arcticus, R. bifrons, R. idaeus, R. laciniatus, R. lasiococcus, R. leucodermis, R. nigerrimus, R. nivalis, R. parviflorus, R. pedatus, R. pensilvanicus, R. pubescens, R. spectabilis, R. ulmifolius, R. vestitus	R. allegheniensis, R. arcticus, R. bifrons, R. idaeus, R. laciniatus, R. lasiococcus, R. leucodermis, R. nivalis, R. parviflorus, R. pedatus, R. pensilvanicus, R. pubescens, R. spectabilis, R. ulmifolius, R. ursinus, R. vestitus
Web links	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria, Turner Photog. WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search	Local floras: OR, WA Local Web sites: Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Rubus nigerrimus

Pacific blackberry, trailing blackberry, dewberry, Douglasberry

dark raspberry, northwest raspberry

Habit

Dioecious perennial with slender, trailing stems up to 6 m. long, abundantly armed with slender, hooked prickles.

Strong, deciduous perennial, the primocanes erect to clambering, glabrous, greenish and glaucous, up to 5 m. long, the prickles straight and flattened; flowering stems trailing, up to 5 m. long, armed with flattened, hooked prickles.

Leaves

Leaves trifoliate, the lateral leaflets ovate-lanceolate, 3-7 cm. long, doubly serrate;

terminal leaflet larger, deeply 3-lobed.

Leaves green and glabrous on both surfaces, trifoliate on the flowering stems but 5- foliate on the canes, the lower 2 leaflets sessile;

leaflets ovate-lanceolate, doubly lobed-serrate.

Flowers

Floral branches several, 1-3 dm. long, erect, bearing several leaves and 1-several flat-topped flower clusters, the inflorescence with stalked glands;

calyx hairy and glandular, the 5 lobes lanceolate, 5-11 mm. long; staminate petals 5, white, elliptic-spatulate, 7-11 mm. long, with 75-100 stamens; pistillate petals broader and shorter, with numerous pistils.

Flowers 1-5 in small, loose clusters;

sepals 5, spreading, 5-8 mm. long;

petals white, elliptic, 4-7 mm. long, often more than 5;

stamens 75-100, pistils 25-40.

Fruits

Drupelets purplish-black, coherent, attached to the elongate receptacle;

fruit up to 2.5 cm. long.

Drupelets barely coalescent, blackish, strongly roughened, rather dry, free from the receptacle.