Rubus glaucus Benth., Rosaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  yes

Common name(s): [more details]

English: Andean blackberry

French: mûre des Andes

Spanish: mora, mora blanca, mora de Castilla, zarzamora azul

Habit:  shrub

Description:  "Scandent shrub. Stems terete, glabrous, strongly glaucous, prickly, prickles gradually narrowed from a broad base, 2-3 mm long, curved. Stipules linear, 5-12 x 0.3-0.8 mm, chartaceous, glabrous. Petioles 50-120 mm long. Leaves 3-foliolate; leaflets ovate-lanceolate, 5-13 x 2-6.5 cm, subcoriaceous, with 10-13 pairs of secondary veins, base rounded or slightly truncate, apex acuminate, margin biserrate, lower surface whitish pannose, upper surface glabrous. Inflorescences lax, leafy, compound cymes, 10-20 cm long, with 15-22 flowers; pedicels 10-40 mm long, glabrous, with acicles. Flowers 18-22 mm diameter; sepals deltate, 7-15 x 3-5 mm, apex acuminate to filiform, abaxially glabrous, adaxially pannose; petals obovate, 7-10 x 5-8 mm, white; carpels pilose-villous. Fruits ovoid to globose, 15-25 x 15-20 mm, with reflexed sepals; drupelets 3-4 x 2-3 mm, 70-100 per receptacle, sparsely pilose-villous to glabrescent, red to black" (Romoleroux, 1996; p. 56:29).

Habitat/ecology:  In Hawai‘i, established in mesic forest above 1000 m.

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Tropical Middle and South America: southern Mexico to Ecuador and Peru.

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) San Cristóbal Group	San Cristóbal Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008) Observed in survey, no herbarium record.
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santa Cruz Group	Santa Cruz Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1106)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Starr, Forest/Starr, Kim/Loope, Lloyd L. (2003) (p. 31) East Maui. Vouchers cited: Starr & Martz 020221-2 (BISH), Starr & Martz 001029-1 (BISH), Starr & Martz 990113-1 (BISH), Starr & Martz 990113-2 (BISH), Oppenheimer H60144 (BISH)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Central America Central America (Pacific rim)	Costa Rica (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Central America Central America (Pacific rim)	Guatemala (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Central America Central America (Pacific rim)	Panama (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
South America (Pacific rim) South America (Pacific rim)	Colombia	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
South America (Pacific rim) South America (Pacific rim)	Ecuador (Republic of) (continental)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
South America (Pacific rim) South America (Pacific rim)	Perú (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)

Comments:  Subject of an eradication program in the Galápagos Islands (Chris Buddenhagen, pers. com.).

Control: 

Physical: Isolated plants may be grubbed out, but any remaining roots will sprout.

Chemical: Systemic herbicides.