Taxonomy
Family: Rosaceae
Habitat
Peaty and boggy sites, often disturbed. Swampy woodland. Springy places. Grazed savannas.
Associates
Distribution
Most of the northern U.S. and throughout Canada.
Morphology
Erect to spreading, suckering shrub. More or less armed with slender prickles and glandular hairs. Leaflets 3-5, gray-pubescent below, acuminate, sharply serrate mostly above middle. Flowers white or greenish-white; pedicels stipitate-glandular and more or less bristly. Fruit red or occasionally yellow, separating from the persistent receptacle.
Notes
Flowers mid May to early September
Wetland indicator: Facultative Wetland (-)
This is apparently our native red raspberry. The most interesting aspects of this plant are its relatively small stature and upright habit, although some forms are more spreading or decumbent. The taxonomy of this species seems to be in flux. Some authorities consider it to be a unique species from the Eurasian var. idaeus and refer to it as R. strigosus Michx.
Eurasian plants are said to lack stipitate-glandular hairs and occur in more upland habitats. These are commonly cultivated and occasionally escape. The images below were taken in a forest in central NY and may or may not represent our native red raspberry as the glandular hairs are present but not as distinct.
References
Gleason, Henry A. and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. Second Ed.
The New York Botanical Garden. Bronx, NY
Swink, F. and G. Wilhelm. 1994. Plants of the Chicago Region.
Indiana Academy of Science. The Morton Arboretum. Lisle, Illinois.
USDA, NRCS. 2002.
The PLANTS Database, Version 3.5 (http://plants.usda.gov).
National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.
Michael Hough © 2005 |