Present on Pacific Islands?  no

Threat only at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  Reject, score: 11 (Go to the risk assessment)

Common name(s): [more details]

English: giant bramble

French: framboise-laine, framboisier de Java, piquant loulou, raisin marron, rou'i, vigne marronne, z'épine

Habit:  shrub

Description:  "A coarse, vigorous scrambling shrub with a woody rootstock, covering other plants and forming thickets, which reproduces by seed and layering.  Stems:  Robust, thick primary canes to 5 m long, covered with a felt of dense brown hairs and scattered hooked prickles; erect at first then arching and scrambling over other plants; short secondary canes producing flowers develop in the leaf axils of primary canes in the second growth season.  Leaves green above, velvety brown below due to a dense covering of reddish hairs; alternate, simple, to 12.5 cm across, deeply notched at the base, with 5 to 7 shallow but finely serrated lobes.  Flowers white, 1.5 to 2 cm diameter, in clusters at ends of short secondary canes, subtended by brown finely divided bracts; calyx covered at the base with brown velvety hairs.  Fruit a succulent aggregate "berry" of edible 1-seeded segments or drupelets, red when ripe.  Seed black, small, subglobular.  Root: A short woody rootstock giving rise to a sparsely branched main root with a number of fibrous laterals in the upper soil layers" (Parsons and Cuthbertson, 1992; pp. 575-577).

Habitat/ecology:  "Wet gullies, creekbanks and the perimeter of rainforests in the humid tropics..."  (Parsons and Cuthbertson, 1992; pp. 575-577).  Forms impenetrable thickets.

Propagation:  Seed spread by frugivorous birds. Locally by layering.

Native range:  Southeast Asia.

Presence:

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland	introduced invasive	Parsons, W. T./Cuthbertson, E. G. (1992) (pp. 575-577)
Cambodia Cambodia	Cambodia (Kingdom of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
China China	China (People's Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
Taiwan Taiwan	Taiwan Island	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
Thailand Thailand	Thailand (Kingdom of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
Vietnam Vietnam	Vietnam (Socialist Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
La Réunion (France) La Réunion Island	La Réunion Island	introduced invasive	MacDonald, I. A. W./Thebaud, C./Strahm, W. A./Strasberg, D. (1991) (pp. 51-61)
La Réunion (France) La Réunion Island	La Réunion Island	introduced invasive	Lavergne, Christophe (2006) "Très envahissant"

Comments:  Invasive in La Réunion.

Control: 

Chemical: "Apply imazapyr or triclopyr as an overall spray during the early flowering period, making sure that the plants are thoroughly wetted.  Leave the treated canes for at least 6 months and then burn.  Spray any regrowth..."  (Parsons and Cuthbertson, 1992; pp. 575-577).

Additional information:  Fact sheet from the Department of Natural Resources, Queensland, Australia. (PDF format)

Additional online information about Rubus alceifolius is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Taxonomic information about Rubus alceifolius may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Lavergne, Christophe. 2006. List des especes exotiques envahissantes a La Reunion. Unpublished manuscript (Excel file). .

MacDonald, I. A. W./Thebaud, C./Strahm, W. A./Strasberg, D. 1991. Effects of alien plant invasions on native vegetation remnants on La Reunion (Mascarenes Islands, Indian Ocean). Environmental Conservation 18 (1):51-61.

Parsons, W. T./Cuthbertson, E. G. 1992. Noxious weeds of Australia. Inkata Press, Melbourne/Sydney. 692 pp.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2007. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.