Rubus armeniacus

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rubus armeniacus
Shoot with immature fruit
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Rosales Family: Rosaceae Genus: Rubus Subgenus: Rubus Species: R. armeniacus
Binomial name
Rubus armeniacus Focke

Rubus armeniacus (Armenian Blackberry or Himalayan Blackberry; syn. R. discolor Weihe & Nees nom. illeg., R. procerus auct. non P.J.Muell.) is a species of Rubus in the blackberry group Rubus subgenus Rubus series Discolores (P.J. Müll.) Focke. It is native to Armenia in southwest Asia, and widely naturalised elsewhere. Both its scientific name and origin have been the subject of much confusion, with much of the literature using one or the other of the two synonyms, and often mistakenly citing its origin as western European.^[1][2][3]

It is a perennial plant which bears biennial stems ("canes") from the perennial root system. In its first year, a new stem grows vigorously to its full length of 4-10 m, trailing along the ground or arching up to 4 m high, stout, up to 2–3 cm diameter at the base, and green, or reddish-tinged above if open to bright sun. The leaves on first year shoots are 7–20 cm long, palmately compound with five leaflets; flowers are not produced on first year shoots. In its second year, the stem does not grow longer, but produces several side shoots, which bear smaller leaves with three leaflets (rarely a single leaflet); the leaflets are oval-acute, dark green above and pale to whitish below, with a toothed margin, and thorns along the midrib on the underside. The flowers are produced in late spring and early summer on panicles of 3–20 together on the tips of the second-year side shoots, each flower 2–2.5 cm diameter with five white or pale pink petals. The fruit, in botanical terminology, is not a berry, but an aggregate fruit of numerous drupelets, 1.2–2 cm diameter, ripening black or dark purple. Both first and second year shoots are spiny, with short, stout, curved, sharp spines. Mature plants form a tangle of dense arching stems, the branches rooting from the node tip when they reach the ground.^[4]

[edit] Cultivation and uses

The species was introduced to Europe in 1835, and Australasia and North America in 1885. It was valued for its fruit, similar to that of common blackberries (Rubus fruticosus and allies); but larger and sweeter, making it a more attractive species for both domestic and commercial fruit production. The cultivars 'Himalayan Giant' and 'Theodore Reimers' are particularly commonly planted.^[1][2] The species soon escaped from cultivation and has become a serious invasive weed in most of the temperate world.^[1][2][5][6]

[edit] References