Rubus - Rubus
Group Description
Stace 4:
Subgenus 6 - RUBUS.
Stems woody, biennial (to perennial), suckering from base, usually stoloniferous, usually with strong prickles and acicles; rhizomes 0; leaves palmate; fruits usually black, sometimes red, not readily separating from receptacle. R. ulmifolius is a sexual diploid with 2n=14, but all other microspecies are facultative apomicts (mostly tetraploides but also triploids, pentaploids, hexaploids and heptaploids) that require pollination in order to reproduce even apomictic seed. Sexual seed can also be produced, and hybridisation is common. 334 microspecies are currently recognised. Although abundant and characteristic of much of Central and Southern British Isles, this subgenus is much less common in Scotland; only about 16 microspecies reach Outer Hebridies and no native ones reach Orkney or Shetland.
