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
Colombia Colombia	Colombia (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Costa Rica Costa Rica	Costa Rica (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Ecuador (Mainland) Ecuador	Ecuador (Republic of) (continental)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Guatemala Guatemala	Guatemala (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Panama Panama	Panama (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Perú Perú	Perú (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

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.

Additional information:
Report (PDF format) from US Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division, Haleakala Field Station, Hawaii "Plants of Hawaii".

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

Information about Rubus glaucus as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

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

References:

Charles Darwin Foundation. 2008. Database inventory of introduced plant species in the rural and urban zones of Galapagos. Charles Darwin Foundation, Galapagos, Ecuador.

Charles Darwin Research Station. 2005. CDRS Herbarium records.

Lawesson, J. E. 1990. Alien plants in the Galapagos Islands: a summary. Monogr. Sys. Bot. Missouri Bot. Garden 32:15-20.

Romoleroux, K. 1996. 79. Rosaceae. In: Flora of Ecuador, G. Harling and L. Andersson, eds.

Soria, M./Taylor, U./Tye, A./Wilkenson, S. R. 2002. Identificación y manajo de malezas en las isles Galapágos. Fundación Charles Darwin, Parque Nacional Galapágos. 69 pp.

Starr, Forest/Starr, Kim/Loope, Lloyd L. 2003. New plant records from the Hawaiian Archipelago. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2001-2002. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 74:23-34.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. 1999. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawaii. Revised edition. Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication. University of Hawai‘i Press/Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 1919 pp. (two volumes).