Rubus cuneifolius

Botanical Description

Rubus cuneifolius is a deciduous to semi-evergreen shrub producing each year a cluster of erect, occasionally arching, densely-prickly, biennial stems from a woody rootstock; the stems are usually 50 - 100cm tall, occasionally reaching 300cm[ 270 Title Flora of N. America Publication Author Website http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/fna/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An on-line version of the flora with an excellent description of the plant including a brief mention of plant uses. ]. The stems only produce leaves, and do not flower, in their first year of growth, forming flowering branches in their second year and then dying after fruiting The plant is commonly harvested from the wild for local use as a food. It has occasionally been cultivated in the southern states of N. America[ 317 Title Mansfeld's Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Plants Publication Author Website http://mansfeld.ipk-gatersleben.de/pls/htmldb_pgrc/f?p=185:3:4292127278597336 Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description Terse details of a huge range of useful plants. ]. Rubus cuneifolius has sometimes been cultivated as a fruit crop outside of its native range - it has escaped from cultivation in South Africa and Australia. Spreading first by bird-sown seed, the plant then spreads by suckers and can form dense thickets as one clump merges into another. It outcompetes native vegetation and has been declared a weed[ 1003 Title Invasive lant Species of the World; a reference guide to envoronmental weeds. Publication Author Weber E. Publisher Biddles Ltd., King's Lynn, UK Year 2005 ISBN 0-85199-695-7 Description Contains information on the habit and growth patterns of 450 recognised invasive species of plant. ].