American red raspberry

(Rubus idaeus ssp. strigosus)

Conservation Status
American red raspberry
 
  IUCN Red List

not listed

     
  NatureServe

N5 - Secure

SNR - Unranked

     
  Minnesota

not listed

     
           
Wetland Indicator Status
     
  Great Plains

FACU - Facultative upland

     
  Midwest

FACU - Facultative upland

     
  Northcentral & Northeast FACU - Facultative upland      
  Northcentral Great Lakes

FAC - Facultative

     
           
 
Description
 
 

American red raspberry is a 3 to 7 tall, erect bramble that rises on multiple stems from a long, perennial, underground stem (rhizome). It often forms dense colonies. It is the most widespread and often the most common tall blackberry in Minnesota.

A series of biennial stems are sent up from a perennial base. First year stems (primocanes) do not flower. They grow to their full height, which can be up to 7 long and somewhat arching near the top, but in Minnesota is usually about 3 tall and erect. They do not arch to the ground and do not root at the tips. They are initially light green, eventually turning reddish or brownish, and are sometimes covered with a whitish, waxy coating (glaucous). They are round (not grooved), and become woody, at least near the base. They have 15 to 50 or more stiff, 1 32 to long, bristly hairs per centimeter (). They do not have soft hairs or broad-based prickles. When young they also have soft, gland-tipped hairs, at least near the top. Under a hand lens these hairs look like a stalk with a ball on the end.

The leaves are alternate and deciduous. Primocane leaves are palmately divided into 3 leaflets or pinnately divided into 5, rarely 7, leaflets. They are on leaf stalks that are 1 to 2 long and covered with gland-tipped hairs and stiff bristles. At the base of each leaf stalk is a small appendage (stipule) that is 3 16 to long and lance-shaped, linear, or thread-like. The central stalk of the leaf is often bristly.

The terminal leaflet is egg-shaped to elliptical, occasionally 3-lobed, and is on a stalk about long. The larger terminal leaflets are 2 to 4 long, 1½ to 2¾ wide. The blade is usually rounded, sometimes heart-shaped, at the base, and tapers to a point at the tip with concave sides along the tip. There are 10 to 15 lateral veins on each side of the midvein. The upper surface is dark green and initially sparsely hairy, eventually becoming hairless. The lower surface is gray-green or silvery gray due to a dense covering of grayish hairs. The margin is toothed or doubly toothed with sharp, forward-pointing teeth. The lateral leaflets are smaller, asymmetrically egg-shaped, rounded at the base, stalkless or nearly stalkless, but otherwise similar. When 5 leaflets are present, the lower two leaflets are well separated from the upper 3 by up to 1.

Second year stems (floricanes) do not grow longer but develop side branches. The leaves are similar to primocane leaves but are divided into 3 leaflets, rarely 5. The leaflets are smaller and narrower.

The inflorescence is a dense, flat-topped or convex, often drooping cluster of 3 to 7 flowers at the ends of the stems and branches. The stalked flowers in the cluster grow upward from various points on the main stem to approximately the same horizontal plane (corymb). Sometimes there are also 1 or 2 flowers rising from upper leaf axils. The stalk of the cluster and the stalks of the individual flowers are bristly have numerous gland-tipped hairs.

The flowers are 5 16 to ½ across and are not showy. There are 5 green, 3 16 to long sepals. They are triangular to lance-shaped, hairy, erect to spreading when in flower, eventually bent backward when in fruit. There are 5 white, elliptical, to ¼ long, erect petals. The petals are shorter than the sepals. There are many stamens, all shorter than the petals. The flowers appear in late May to early July.

The fruit is a bright red, juicy, short, almost globe-shaped, ½ to in diameter aggregate of multiple drupelets. It matures mid-July to late August. When picked it separates easily from its core. It is smaller but tastier than the domestic raspberry.

 
     
 

Height

 
 

3 to 7

 
     
 

Flower Color

 
 

White petals, green sepals

 
     
 

Similar Species

 
 

Allegheny blackberry (Rubus allegheniensis) leaves are palmately lobed.

European red raspberry (Rubus idaeus ssp. idaeus) is a similar European species that lacks gland-tipped hairs on first-year canes, leaf stalks, flower stalks, and calyces. The leaves are pinnately divided into 5 or 7, rarely 3, leaflets. It sometimes escapes gardens but is not naturalized.

Black raspberry (Rubus occidentalis) is a larger plant. The canes can get much longer, up to 13. Longer canes arch to the ground and root at the tip. They have broad-based prickles and no bristles. The fruits ripen purplish-black, not red.

 
     
 
Habitat
 
 

Dry to moist. Forests, forest margins, woods, thickets, lake shores, meadows, roadsides. Full sun to partial shade.

 
     
 
Ecology
 
 

Flowering

 
 

Late May to early July

 
     
 

Pests and Diseases

 
 

 

 
     
 
Use
 
 

 

 
     
 
Distribution
 
 

Distribution Map

 

Sources

2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 28, 29, 30.

 
  2/14/2023      
         
 

Nativity

 
 

Native

 
         
 

Occurrence

 
 

Common and widespread

 
         
 
Taxonomy
 
  Kingdom Plantae (green algae and land plants)  
  Subkingdom Viridiplantae (green plants)  
  Infrakingdom Streptophyta (land plants and green algae)  
  Superdivision Embryophyta (land plants)  
  Division Tracheophyta (vascular plants)  
  Subdivision Spermatophytina (seed plants)  
  Class Magnoliopsida (flowering plants)  
  Superorder Rosanae  
 

Order

Rosales (roses, elms, figs, and allies)  
 

Family

Rosaceae (rose)  
  Subfamily Rosoideae (brambles, roses, strawberries, and allies)  
  Tribe Rubeae (bramble)  
 

Genus

Rubus (brambles)  
  Subgenus Idaeobatus  
  Section Idaeanthi  
  Species Rubus idaeus (European raspberry)  
       
 

There is some disagreement about the classification of this plant. Most sources, including GRIN, NCBI, UniProt, Plants of the World Online (POWO), World Flora Online, iNaturalist, NatureServe, and the Minnesota DNR (MNTaxa) list it as Rubus idaeus ssp. strigosus. ITIS lists it as Rubus sachalinensis var. sachalinensis. Wikipedia lists it as the species Rubus strigosus.

 
       
 

Subordinate Taxa

 
 

 

 
       
 

Synonyms

 
 

Rubus carolinianus

Rubus idaeus var. aculeatissimus

Rubus idaeus var. canadensis

Rubus idaeus var. gracilipes

Rubus idaeus var. melanolasius

Rubus idaeus ssp. melanolasius

Rubus idaeus var. melanotrachys

Rubus idaeus ssp. sachalinensis

Rubus idaeus ssp. strigosus

Rubus idaeus var. strigosus

Rubus melanolasius

Rubus neglectus

Rubus strigosus

Rubus strigosus var. acalyphaceus

Rubus strigosus var. arizonicus

Rubus strigosus var. canadensis

 
       
 

Common Names

 
 

American red raspberry

common red raspberry

grayleaf raspberry

grayleaf red raspberry

North American red raspberry

red raspberry

wild red raspberry

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Aggregate fruit

A compound fruit consisting of many separate individual fruits derived from separate ovaries in a single flower, like a raspberry or blackberry.

 

Axil

The upper angle where a branch, stem, leaf stalk, or vein diverges.

 

Bramble

Thorny plants in the genus Rubus, including blackberry, dewberry, and raspberry.

 

Corymb

A flat-topped or convex inflorescence in which the stalked flowers grow upward from various points on the main stem to approximately the same horizontal plane. The outer flowers open first.

 

Drupe

A fleshy fruit with a single hard, stone-like core, like a cherry or peach.

 

Floricane

A two year old cane of a raspberry or blackberry that bears fruit and then dies.

 

Glandular hairs

Hairs spread over aerial vegetation that secrete essential oils. The oils act to protect against herbivores and pathogens or, when on a flower part, attract pollinators. The hairs have a sticky or oily feel.

 

Glaucous

Pale green or bluish gray due to a whitish, powdery or waxy film, as on a plum or a grape.

 

Linear

Long, straight, and narrow, with more or less parallel sides, like a blade of grass.

 

Palmate

Similar to a hand. Having more than three lobes or leaflets that radiate from a single point at the base of the leaf.

 

Pinnate

On a compound leaf, having the leaflets arranged on opposite sides of a common stalk. On a bryophyte, having branches evenly arranged on opposite sides of a stem.

 

Primocane

The first year cane of a raspberry or blackberry; it is usually unbranched and normally does not flower.

 

Rhizome

A horizontal, usually underground stem. It serves as a reproductive structure, producing roots below and shoots above at the nodes.

 

Sepal

An outer floral leaf, usually green but sometimes colored, at the base of a flower.

 

Stipule

A small, leaf-like, scale-like, glandular, or rarely spiny appendage found at the base of a leaf stalk, usually occurring in pairs and usually dropping soon.

 
 
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Plant

 
    American red raspberry      
           
 

Leaves

 
    American red raspberry   American red raspberry  
           
    American red raspberry   American red raspberry  
           
 

Stem

 
    American red raspberry      
           
 

Infructescence

 
    American red raspberry      
           
 

Fruit

 
    American red raspberry      

 

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