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Manual of the New Zealand Flora.
1. Rubus, Linn
1. Rubus, Linn.
Scrambling or climbing shrubs, rarely herbs, almost always-prickly. Leaves alternate, simple or compound, usually palmately or pinnately divided into 3–5 lobes or segments or separate leaflets; lets; stipules adnate to the petiole. Flowers in terminal or axillary panicles, rarely solitary. Calyx-tube broad, open; lobes 5, persistent. Petals 5. Stamens numerous. Disc coating the calyx-tube. Carpels many, seated on a convex receptacle; style subterminal; ovules 2, pendulous, Fruit composed of many succulent 1-seeded drupes, crowded upon an oblong or conical dry receptacle. Seed pendulous.
A large genus, common in the temperate portions of the Northern Hemisphere, rarer in the tropics and south temperate zone. The fruits of all the species are edible, and some of them, such as the raspberry and blackberry, both of which have become naturalised in New Zealand, are excellent. All the New Zealand species are endemic.
* Leaves 3–5-foliolate.
A lofty climber. Leaflets glabrous, cordate or truncate at the base. Panicles large. Flowers white 1. R. australis. Climbing or scrambling, often forming a dense bush. Leaflets glabrous, rounded or cuneate at the base. Panicles small. Flowers yellowish 2. R. cissoides. Climbing or scrambling, often forming a dense bush. Leaflets often tomentose beneath, broadly ovate. Fruit large, yellowish 3. R. schmidelioidespage 125 ** Leaves 1-foliolate. Small, prostrate. Leaves sharply dentate. Fruit very large 4. R. parvus.
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R. australis, Forst. Prodr. 224.—A tall climber, reaching the tops of the highest trees; stems stout, woody at the base; branches slender, drooping, armed with scattered recurved prickles. Leaves 3–5-foliolate or rarely pinnate with 2 pairs of leaflets and a terminal one; leaflets coriaceous, glabrous, very variable in size and shape, 2–5 in. long, ovate-oblong or ovate-lanceolate to linear-oblong or almost linear, acute or acuminate, truncate or cordate at the base, sharply serrate; petioles and midribs armed with recurved prickles. Panicles large, much branched, 6–24 in. long, leafy towards the base; pedicels short, glandular or pubescent. Flowers white, ⅓–½ in. diam., diœcious; males larger and more conspicuous than the females. Petals broadly ovate or oblong. Fruit ¼ in. diam., reddish-orange.—A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 340; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 567; Raoul, Choix, 49; Kirk, Students' Fl. 125. R. australis var. glaber, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 53, t. 14; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 54. North and South Islands, Stewart Island: Abundant throughout. Ascends to 2800 ft. Tataramoa; Bush-lawyer. September–October. Distinguished from the other species by its large size, glabrous leaflets cordate or truncate at the base, large panicles, white flowers, and small red fruit. |
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R. cissoides, A. Cunn. Precur. n. 569.—A scrambling or climbing shrub; branchlets slender, unarmed, usually much and closely interlaced, forming a dense bush. Leaves 3–5-foliolate; leaflets 2–5 in. long, narrow-ovate to lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, acuminate, rounded or cuneate at the base, sharply and irregularly serrate or lobed; petioles varying much in length, furnished with fewer and softer prickles than in R. australis. Panicles 2–6 in. long, often reduced to racemes; pedicels pubescent or glabrate. Flowers yellowish - white, ⅓ in. diam., diœcious. Calyx - lobes broadly ovate, tomentose. Petals linear-oblong. Fruit orange-red, much as in R. australis.—Raoul, Choix, 49; Kirk, Students' Handb. 126. R. australis var. cissoides, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 53; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 54. Var. pauperatus, Kirk, l.c.—Leaves reduced to prickly midribs, sometimes with a minute leaflet at the apex.—R. squarrosus, Kerner. North and South Islands, Stewart Island: Not uncommon from the North Cape southwards, chiefly in lowland districts. September–November. |
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R. schmidelioides, A. Cunn. Precur. n. 568.—A scrambling or climbing shrub; branchlets usually unarmed, often intertwined, forming a dense bush; young shoots pubescent or tomentose. Leaves 3–5-foliolate; leaflets 2–4 in. long, orbicular-ovate or ovate-oblong to ovate-lanceolate, coriaceous, acute, rounded or cordate at page 126the base, coarsely and irregularly toothed, usually tomentose or pubescent beneath; petioles and midribs with recurved prickles. Panicles 2–8 in. long; branches and pedicels stout, hispid or setose or pubescent. Flowers ⅓ in. diam., whitish, diœcious. Calyx tomentose. Petals broad, rounded. Fruit ⅓ in. diam., pale-yellowish, juicy.—Raoul, Choix, 49; Kirk, Students' Fl. 126. R. australis var. schmidelioides, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 53; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 54. Var. coloratus, Kirk, l.c.—Leaflets rugose, white beneath with appressed tomentum. North and South Islands, Stewart Island: Not uncommon throughout, but mostly in lowland districts. October–November. |
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R. parvus, Buch, in Trans. N.Z. Inst. vi. (1874) 243, t. 22, f. 2 and 3.—A dwarf prostrate glabrous shrub; stems creeping, 12–18 in. long, sometimes partly buried in the soil and rooting at the nodes; bark red; prickles few. Leaves 1-foliolate; leaflets bronzy, coriaceous, 1–3 in. long, linear or linear-lanceolate, acute, slightly cordate or truncate at the base, acutely dentate; teeth almost spinous; petioles and midrib with a few stout prickles. Flowers few, diœcious, in short terminal or axillary panicles or solitary; pedicels pubescent. Calyx-lobes silky-pubescent, acuminate, reflexed. Petals white, barely exceeding the calyx. Fruit large, ½–1 in. long, oblong, juicy.—Kirk, Students' Fl. 126. South Island: River-valleys on the western side of the Southern Alps. Heaphy River, Dall; Buller Valley, Kirk; Lyell River, Dr. Gaze; Lake Brunner, Hector! Teremakau Valley, Kirk! Otira Valley, Cockayne! Petrie! Altitudinal range 250–3000 ft. Apparently a very distinct species, easily recognised by its small size, 1-foliolate leaves with sharply dentate margins, long acuminate sepals, and large oblong fruit. I cannot agree with Mr. Kirk in thinking that it may be "an arrested form of R. australis." |