FIELD ID CHARACTERISTICS:
Typical blackberry leaves but shiny and with bristly stems crawling along the ground.
Synonym(s): Rubus sempervirens
Description: Low-growing, evergreen plant with bristly stems and compound leaves.
Leaves: Tough, shiny palmately compound leaves with three leaflets that are widely serrated and with prominent veins.
Flowers/Fruit: White, 5-petaled flowers with green centers full of stamens. Fruits are typical blackberry fruits, red turning black. Flowers May and June; fruits June and July.
Habit and Range: Found statewide, but common in the Mountains and northern Coastal Plain. Uncommon in the southern Coastal Plain and very rare in most of the Piedmont.
COMMON CONFUSIONS:
Leaves of Rubus hispidus (swamp dewberry) are similar to Rubus pensilvanicus (Pennsylvania blackberry) but Rubus pensilvanicus has long arching stems that reach to 2 m high and have strong prickles along their stems.
Click here to view Rubus pensilvanicus.
Link to side-by-side comparisons page
