Rubus bertramii

Rubus bertramii is an apomictic European bramble microspecies within the Rubus fruticosus aggregate, recognised principally in central and north-western Europe. It is a vigorous deciduous shrub forming arching, biennial canes that root at the tip; first-year primocanes are ridged, sparsely to densely armed with broad-based, slightly curved prickles, while flowering floricanes appear in the second season. The palmately compound leaves bear typically three to five ovate to elliptic, serrate leaflets, dark green and almost glabrous above and softly hairy or finely tomentose beneath. Terminal panicles of pinkish-white five-petalled flowers about 2 to 3 cm across, with numerous stamens and styles, develop in early summer and give rise to the familiar aggregate fruit: a glossy, blackish drupe-cluster ripening through red to purple-black in late summer. Like other R. fruticosus microspecies it grows in hedgerows, scrub, woodland margins, heaths and rough ground on a range of soils. It reproduces apomictically, breeding true within local populations.