Rubus leucodermis

White Bark Raspberry

Rosaceae

The Basics

Taxonomy: Kingdom - Plantae (plants). Subkingdom - Tracheobionta (vascular plants). Superdivision - Spermatophyta (seed plants). Division - Magnoliophyta (Flowering plants). Class - Magnoliopsida. Order - Rosales. Family - Rosaceae (Rose family). Genus -Rubus L. Species - Rubus leucodermis Douglas ex Torr. & A. Gray

Ecology: Rubus leucodermis Generally open, rocky, especially moist areas; 40-2400 m. California Floristic Province (except Great Central Valley); to southern Alaska, Montana, Utah, Arizona. Apr-Jul.

Identification

White Bark raspberry (Abies amabilis), is a deciduous Shrubs growing to 0.5-3 m tall. Stems, ascending, often arching, glabrous or sparsely puberulent, eglandular or sparsely to densely short-stipitate-glandular, strongly pruinose; prickles moderate to dense, erect or curved, slender to stout, 4–8 mm, usually broad-based, sometimes narrow-based. The leaves are pinnate, with five leaflets on leaves' strong-growing stems in their first year, and three leaflets on leaves on flowering branchlets with white and infrequently light purple flowers.

Facts

Wildlife: many species eat the fruit that comes from Rubus leucodermis. These are birds and other small rodents. Large animals eat them as well such as bears. Animals such as butterflies and bees pollinate the flowers that blooms from May to June. 

 Food: The fruit is eatable and the leaves may be used in a tea.

Reproduction

Flowering and Fruiting - lowers 2-7 in an umbel-like raceme, the pedicels woolly and prickly; calyx wooly and glandular, the 5 segments narrowly lanceolate and pointed, reflexed; petals 5, white, spatulate, shorter than the sepals; stamens 70-100, glabrous; pistils numerous.

Fruits are Drupelets coherent, coming free from the receptacle, reddish-purple to black, the fruit up to 12 mm. broad.

Seeds: The seeds need to stratify for 90 in temperatures around 40OF. Rubus leucoduermis can also grow from sprouting from rhizomes.

Species Distribution

Citation

Silvics of North America
Burns, R.M., and B.H. Honkala. 1990. Silvics of North America (Volume 1: Conifers, Volume 2: Hardwoods). USDA Forest Service Agricultural Handbook 654.

USDA Plants Database
USDA, NRCS. 2016. The PLANTS Database. National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC 27401-4901 USA.

USFS Plant Database
Habeck, R. J. 1992. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory.

Flora of North America
Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds. 1993+. Flora of North America North of Mexico. 19+ vols. New York and Oxford.

Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture
Burke Museum. 2016. Abies amabilis [Online]. University of Washington.

Native Plants PNW
Bressette, D. K. (2016, July 18). Blackcap Raspberry, Rubus leucodermis. Retrieved from Native Plants PNW: http://nativeplantspnw.com/blackcap-raspberry-rubus-leucodermis/