Similar species: Page is under construction. Please see link below for general information on the genus Rubus.

Flowering: early May to mid July

Habitat and ecology: Locally common in disturbed sandy soils, such as abandoned sandy fields, sandy woodlands, dry prairies, dry clayey areas.

Occurence in the Chicago region: native

Etymology: Rubus is the Latin name for bramble and also means red. Flagellaris means "with flagella or whips."

Author: The Morton Arboretum

[Deam's treatment includes four species in the R. flagellaris group:] [Rubus flagellaris sensu stricto (pedicles glandless, plants stout, leaves coriaceous):] This species is found only in slightly acid soil, usually in areas where the top soil has been removed by erosion, hence mostly in fallow fields. It is more or less frequent in the lake area and frequent to common in the southern part of the state. In the lake area in the northern counties it is often found in moist, sandy, acid areas in black oak woods. In all parts of the state the foliage is variable, and this variation has led authors to segregate three forms which have been named. In the present treatment I believe it is best to regard this prostrate Rubus as a complex under one name. [R. centralis (pedicels with stalked glands, primocanes usually glandless and prickles small and few):] The type of this species is my [Deam] no. 27967 which was collected on the crest of a black and white oak ridge just east of Forest Tract 53 in the Clark County State Forest. [R. deamii (pedicels with stalked glands, primocanes with stalked glands and prickles of two sizes and about 5 per cm.):] The type of this species is my [Deam] no. 27799 which was collected on a washed slope in a fallow field on the north side of Little Blue River just west of the bridge across Little Blue River about a half mile south of Grantsburg in Crawford County. My no. 44636 is a topotype. My other specimens referred to this species by Bailey are shown on the map. Tennessee is the only other state from which Bailey cites specimens. [R. enslenii (pedicels glandless, plants slender, leaves thin and soft):] Our only specimens were found in very shallow soil on the cliffs in Perry County.

Primocanes prostrate or low-arched, normally rooting at least at the tip, never bristly, ±armed with small, stout, curved, somewhat hooked prickles with expanded base; foliage and pubescence various, but lfls of the compound floricane lvs regularly of an ovate type, and sharply acute or acuminate, broadly rounded to the base or even subcordate, widest distinctly below the middle; fls occasionally solitary and terminal, more often 2-5, each pedicel, except possibly that of one of the two terminal fls, subtended by a 3-foliolate lf or by a simple lf with expanded blade, the pedicels elongate and suberect. Often in pockets of soil on ledges and cliffs, as well as in disturbed habitats. Chiefly northern, from e. Can. to Minn., but extending s. to Ga. and Ark. May, June. (R. baileyanus; R. curtipes; R. foliaceus; R. invisus; R. jaysmithii; R. maltei; R. meracus; R. occidualis; R. plexus; R. profusiflorus; R. redundans; R. roribaccus; R. temerarius)

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

©The New York Botanical Garden. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Plant: woody vine; flowering branches erect to ca. 1.5 dm tall, the old epidermis not flaking off; plants eglandular, glabrous to minutely villous; prickles very sharp, stout, broad-based, laterally flattened, hooked, down-turned

Leaves: widely spaced, imperfectly deciduous, green above, paler green below; leaflets usually lanceolate to obovate; margins serrate to doubly serrate; primocane leaves (5-)7-11(-15) cm long, 4-8(-11) cm wide, palmately 3-5-foliolate or pedately (having lateral leaflets deeply lobed) 3-foliolate; floricane leaves 4-9 cm long, 2.5-9 cm wide, 3-foliolate

INFLORESCENCE: simple cymes with 1-6(-8) flowers terminating short, erect, lateral branches, sometimes surpassing the leaves, bracteate, often leafy at the base

Flowers: sepals usually reflexed, often apiculate to caudate, 4-10 mm long, the main portion ovate to lanceolate, the margins tomentose; petals white, 8-12 mm long; pistils glabrous

Fruit: small, tasty, sub-spherical, coherent, fixed to the fleshy torus; drupelets dark red, glabrous, fleshy

Misc: Shady places in riparian areas and near springs; 450-1850 m (1400-6000 ft); Mar-Jun

REFERENCES: Brasher, Jeffrey W. 2001. Rosaceae. J. Ariz. - Nev. Acad. Sci. Volume 33(1).

Common Name: Arizona dewberry

Duration: Perennial

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Subshrub

Wetland Status: FACU

General: Deciduous woody vine growing to 15 or 20 cm tall, the armed stems prostrate, with only flowering branches erect. Prickles conspicuous, very sharp, stout, laterally flattened and hooked, covering stems, leaf petioles, and flower pedicels; mature bark red to purple or tan

Leaves: Widely spaced, glabrous to minutely villous, the lower surface paler green than the upper surface, veins only slightly prominent, pedately 5-foliolate; leaflets lanceolate to obovate, the margins serrate to doubly serrate, 7-11 cm long, 4-8 cm wide.

Flowers: White to pink in short 1-6 flowered cymes, terminal on short erect lateral branches; sepals reflexed, 4-10 mm long, ovate to lanceolate with tomentose margins; petals white or tinged pink, 8-12 mm, longer than the sepals; stamens numerous.

Fruits: Aggregate fruit similar to a small blackberry, conical in shape, with few fleshy drupelets that remain attached to the torus (receptacle, or center of the fruit), dark red at maturity.

Ecology: Found in partial shade by streams, prefers well-drained soil, slightly acidic from 3,500-5,000 ft (1067-1524 m); flowers March-May.

Distribution: s AZ to w TX, south into n MEX.

Notes: This species, in the same genus as raspberries, blackberries, and thimbleberries, is relatively uncommon but readily identifiable with its prostrate habit, heavily armed stems, compound leaves that are slightly lighter green on the underside, white flowers and dark red berries. The fruit is said to be tasty and sweet. Dewberries are most closely related to blackberries, with both groups having cohesive fruits with drupelets that remain attached to the receptacle, rather than sliding off the receptacle as a unit or falling apart into individual drupelets, as in raspberries and thimbleberries.

Ethnobotany: Fruit can be eaten raw or cooked, fruit can be pressed into cakes, dried and stored for later use. A purple to dull blue dye can be obtained from the fruit.

Etymology: Rubus comes from Latin ruber for -red- and word meaning -bramble-, arizonensis refers to type specimen being from Arizona. 

Synonyms: None

Editor: SBuckley 2010, AHazelton 2015