Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Rubus ulmifolius var. ulmifolius
Common name
Blackberry
Family
Rosaceae
Where found
Forest, woodland, grasslands, pastures, disturbed sites, roadsides, gardens, orchards, plantations, along streams and near swamps. Coast and ranges north from Jervis Bay. ACT.
Notes
Introduced semi-deciduous shrub to 3 m high, scrambling or sprawling, stems sometimes arching. Produces roots at the stem tips and suckers from the base. Forms dense thickets. Prickles to about to 12 mm long on stems (mainly on the angles), leaf stalks, sometimes on the lower surfaces of the leaves, occasionally on the sepals. Leaf margins sharply toothed. Stems strongly angled, hairless to densely hairy, often with a waxy bloom, often developing a white scaly covering with age. Leaves alternating up the stems, compound, with 3 or 5 leaflets, sometimes some leaflets joined. Leaflets mostly 2.5–8 cm long, 10–55 mm wide, bases wedge-shaped to cordate, upper surface green, becoming hairless, lower surface densely and minutely felted, longer hairs absent or rare. Flowers usually pale pink, sometimes white, with 5 petals each 8–15 mm long, broad elliptic to nearly round, cup-shaped and often slightly crumpled. Flowers in narrow cylindrical branched clusters. Flowering: Mainly late spring and summer. Fruit more or less round, initially green, ripening red, maturing black, about 15 mm in diameter.
Rubus ulmifolius in PlantNET.
One of the species in the Rubus fruticosus species aggregate.
A Weed of National Significance. General Biosecurity Duty with additional restrictions all NSW. Pest plant ACT. Noxious weed Vic.
PlantNET description: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Rubus~ulmifolius (accessed 20 April 2021)
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