Rubus ursinus

Rubus ursinus is a North American species of blackberry or dewberry, known by the common names California blackberry, California dewberry, Douglas berry, Pacific blackberry, Pacific dewberry and trailing blackberry. Rubus ursinus is a wide, mounding shrub or vine, growing to 0.6–1.5 metres (2–5 feet) tall and more than 1.8 m (6 ft) wide. The prickly branches can take root if they touch soil, thus enabling the plant to spread vegetatively and form larger clonal colonies. The deciduous leaves usually have 3 leaflets but sometimes 5 or only 1. The plant is dioecious, with male and female being separate plants, also unusual for the genus. As with other Rubus species, the canes are typically vegetative the first year and reproductive in the second. The fragrant flowers are white, with narrower petals than most related species. The sweet, very aromatic fruits are dark purple, dark red, or black and up to 2 centimetres (3⁄4 inch) long. Current or recent subspecies and varieties include: A cultivar of this species named the 'Aughinbaugh' blackberry was a parent of the loganberry. R. ursinus is also a second-generation parent of the boysenberry and the marionberry, or 'Marion' blackberry. 'Wild Treasure' has the fruit size and flavor of the wild species, but without prickles, and the berries are machine harvestable.