Rubus spp. Rosaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Threat only at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

English: blackberry, brambles, raspberries

French: framboises, ronces

Habit:  shrub

Description:  "Erect, scandent, or prostrate shrubs, rarely herbaceous; stems sometimes rooting at the tip or at the nodes, usually prickly. Leaves simple to palmately or pinnately compound, alternate, margins often toothed or entire, petiolate, stipules adnate to base of petioles, these sometimes lobed, persistent or caducous. Flowers perfect, 1 to numerous, usually in corymbose, racemose, or paniculate inflorescences or solitary; receptacle raised; calyx lobes 5, persistent; petals 5, white to rose or sometimes yellowish; stamens numerous; carpels usually numerous, superior, inserted on the raised receptacle, 1-celled, ovules 2 per cell; style filiform, subterminal, persistent. Fruit globose or ovoid, consisting of coherent, fleshy, juicy drupelets, crowded together on the receptacle, readily detaching from it or receptacle breaking off with them" (Wagner et al., 1999).

Habitat/ecology:  Moist and wet forests and open areas from almost sea level to 7000 ft. elevation. Often cultivated for edible fruits, from whence they escape.

Propagation:  Primarily by birds.

Native range:  Various

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
New Caledonia New Caledonia	New Caledonia Islands		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1947) (voucher ID: BISH 173151) Taxon name on voucher: Rubus (Genus of Rosaceae)
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands	Mikira (San Cristobal) Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1932) (voucher ID: BISH 576784) Taxon name on voucher: Rubus brassii Merr. & L.M.Perry

Comments:  See individual pages for R. alceifolius, R. argutus, R. ellipticus, R. glaucus, R. moluccanus, R. niveus, R. rosifolius and R. sieboldii

Where Rubus species are not present on tropical islands, they should not be introduced. If already introduced, they should be evaluated as candidates for eradication.

Control: 

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

Chemical: Systemic herbicides.

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

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

References:

Bishop Museum (Honolulu). 1932. Voucher specimen #BISH 576784 (Brass 2891).

Bishop Museum (Honolulu). 1947. Voucher specimen #BISH 173151 (Buchholz, J.T. 1307).

U. S. Government. 2006. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) (on-line resource).

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).