Rubus nivalis
Rubus pascuus
dwarf snow bramble, snow bramble, snow dewberry, snow dwarf bramble, snow raspberry
Chesapeake blackberry, Nanticoke blackberry, topsy
perennial, creeping, sparsely hairy, glabrescent, eglandular, not pruinose;
prickles sparse, strongly retrorse, stout, to 1 mm, broad-based.
biennial, arching, sparsely to densely hairy, sparsely to densely sessile-glandular, rarely short-stipitate-glandular, not pruinose;
bark not papery, peeling;
prickles moderate to dense, hooked, retrorse, or erect, stout, 4–10 mm, broad- or narrow-based.
evergreen, simple or ternate;
stipules adnate to petioles, broadly elliptic to ovate, (6–)8–10 mm;
blade ovate to cordate, (2.5–)3–5(–8) cm, lobe or leaflet base cordate, shallowly 3-lobed, margins coarsely, singly or doubly dentate, apex acute to obtuse, abaxial surfaces with prickles along midveins, glabrous or sparsely hairy, eglandular, both surfaces lustrous fresh.
deciduous to semievergreen, palmately compound, rarely ternate;
stipules filiform to linear, rarely narrowly lanceolate, 5–16(–20) mm;
leaflets 3–5, terminal broadly elliptic or ovate, (3.5–)4.5–8.5 × 2.5–6 cm, base rounded, unlobed, margins moderately to coarsely doubly, rarely singly, serrate, apex acute or short-acuminate, abaxial surfaces with hooked prickles on larger veins, short-velutinous to tomentose, sparsely to densely sessile-glandular, rarely short-stipitate-glandular.
1–2-flowered.
terminal and axillary, 3–15(–25)-flowered, cymiform to thyrsiform, not projected well beyond subtending leaves.
prickles scattered, retrorse, moderately to densely hairy, eglandular.
prickles moderate to dense, hooked, retrorse, or erect, densely hairy, eglandular or sparsely to moderately sessile-glandular.
bisexual;
petals magenta to pink, elliptic to oblanceolate or spatulate, (5–)8–10 mm;
filaments filiform;
ovaries moderately hairy, styles glabrous.
bisexual;
petals white to pale pink, obovate or elliptic to orbiculate, (8–)10–15 mm;
filaments filiform;
ovaries glabrous or apically hairy.
red, hemispheric, 0.4–1 cm;
drupelets 3–10, not coherent, separating from torus.
black, globose to subcylindric, 1–2 cm;
drupelets (15–)20–40(–50), strongly coherent, separating with torus attached.
= 14.
= 21, 28.
Rubus nivalis
Rubus pascuus
Rubus nivalis is recognized by its creeping, prickly stems, simple to ternate, evergreen leaves, broadly elliptic to ovate stipules, two leaflets, relatively small flowers, and magenta to pink petals. Its closest relative is likely the Mexican R. pumilus Focke. Asian species previously classified in subg. Chamaebatus (Focke) Focke are hexaploid (M. M. Thompson 1997) and not phylogenetically close; R. nivalis appears to be sister to all blackberries of subg. Rubus (L. A. Alice and C. S. Campbell 1999; Alice et al. 2008).
The fruits of Rubus nivalis are eaten fresh, stewed, and canned by the Hoh and Quileute Indians (A. B. Reagan 1936).
The only known specimen of Rubus nivalis from California was collected in 1961 from Del Norte County at 1250 m near the Oregon border.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Rubus pascuus is probably more widespread than indicated here. The species is most likely to be mistaken for R. bifrons, R. cuneifolius, or R. pensilvanicus. Unlike R. bifrons, R. pascuus is generally more densely glandular, has much shorter, compact inflorescences that usually barely surpass the leaves, and tends to hold its primocane leaves relatively erect (versus spreading in R. bifrons). Although both can be semievergreen, R. pascuus will lose its leaves more readily than R. bifrons in areas where they co-occur. When compared with R. cuneifolius, R. pascuus has pale pink to white petals and ovate to broadly elliptic leaflets with flat margins, the entire part restricted to the base; R. cuneifolius has white petals and cuneate to obovate leaflets with usually revolute margins, the proximal third entire. When compared with R. pensilvanicus, R. pascuus has pale pink to white petals. Rubus pensilvanicus only has white petals as well as abaxial leaf surfaces, which are white to gray-green in R. pascuus with dense, short-velutinous to tomentose indument, while those of R. pensilvanicus can be hairy but never whitish to gray-green. A notable aspect of R. pascuus is how vigorously armed it is, more so than most other Rubus species in the flora area.
Rubus pascuus may represent a stabilized hybrid between a European and a native blackberry species, suggested by whitish pubescence on the abaxial leaf surface and pale pink petals. L. H. Bailey placed R. pascuus in his sect. Cuneifolii (L. H. Bailey) L. H. Bailey, likely because of the whitish hairs on the abaxial leaf surface.
The use of the name Rubus pascuus here is tentative; it is the best fit to the material observed. This treatment follows H. A. Davis (1990) for the choice of the name to use and its associated synonymy.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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