European dewberry
Rubus caesius
Summary 3
Rubus caesius is a species of dewberry, known as the European dewberry. Like other dewberries, it is a species of flowering plant in the rose family, related to the blackberry. It is found in throughout Great Britain and Ireland, as well as in Ontario, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, and New York.
Taxon biology 4
The dull-blue colored dewberries makes one think that the fruit is covered in mold, but that's absolutely not the case. These blackberries but are generally juicier and just as sweet as the common blackberry. Dewberries are very common on sunny areas in the dunes and along large rivers and railway embankments. They grow in calcium-rich soils where organic material decomposes quickly, releasing a lot of nitrogen. Dunes are often richer in calcium than other soils, which explains why dewberry is found there. When there are no berries for comparison, you can still easily identify dewberry from blackberries from the number of leaves. Dewberry has three, blackberries have five. Unlesss you've found a hybrid dewberry with a blackberry or even a rasberry.
Sources and Credits
- (c) Jordi Roy Gabarra, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://www.flickr.com/photos/80633627@N00/4119760928
- (c) anonymous, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://www.biopix.com/PhotosMedium/JCS%20Rubus%20caesius%2039285.jpg
- (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubus_caesius
- (c) Copyright Ecomare, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/23204465
More Info
- iNat taxon page
- Acta plantarum
- Biodiversity Heritage Library
- BOLD Systems BIN search
- eFloras.org
- Flora Digital de Portugal
- Flora of North America (beta)
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
- HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants
- IPNI (with links to POWO, WFO, and BHL)
- NatureServe Explorer 2.0
- NBN Atlas
- SEINet Symbiota portals
- Tropicos
- USDA PLANTS database
- VASCAN by Canadensys
- World Flora Online
