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Rubus
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Rubus is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Rosaceae, subfamily Rosoideae. Raspberries, blackberries, and dewberries are common, widely distributed members of the genus. Most of these plants have woody stems with prickles like roses; spines, bristles, and gland-tipped hairs are also common in the genus. The Rubus fruit, sometimes called a bramble fruit, is an aggregate of drupelets.
The blackberries, as well as various other Rubus species with mounding or rambling growth habits, are often called brambles. However, this name is not used for those like the raspberry that grow as upright canes, or for trailing or prostrate species such as most dewberries, or various low-growing boreal, arctic, or alpine species.
The genus Rubus is believed to have existed since at least 23.7 to 36.6 million years ago.
Examples of the hundreds, if not thousands, of species of Rubus include:
The genus also includes numerous hybrids, both natural and bred by man, such as the Loganberry (Rubus × loganobaccus).
- See also: List of Lepidoptera that feed on Rubus
Scientific classification The genus Rubus is a very complex one, particularly the blackberry/dewberry subgenus (Rubus), with polyploidy, hybridization, and facultative apomixis apparently all frequently occurring, making species classification of the great variation in the subgenus one of the grand challenges of systematic botany. Some treatments have recognized dozens of species each for what other, comparably qualified botanists have considered single, more variable species. On the other hand, species in the other Rubus subgenera (such as the raspberries) are generally distinct, or else involved in more routine one-or-a-few taxonomic debates, such as whether the European and American red raspberries are better treated as one species or two. (In this case, the two-species view is followed here, with Rubus idaeus and R. strigosus both recognized; if these species are combined, then the older name R. idaeus has priority for the broader species.)
The classification presented below recognizes 13 subgenera within Rubus, with the largest subgenus (Rubus) in turn divided into 12 sections. Representative examples are presented, but there are many more species not mentioned here.
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