categoryZShrubs Shrubs List 
categoryZBroadleaf Broadleaf List 
categoryZDeciduous Deciduous List 

SALMONBERRY

FALSE SALMONBERRY

Rubus spectabilis

Rose Family [Rosaceae]

Flowers:
month8mar month8march month8apr month8april month8may


Berries: berryZpossible     berryZorange;  (or berryZcream or berryZyellow or berryZred)  (Drupelet, edible, glaucous)
berry8jun berry8june berry8jul berry8july berry8aug berry8sep berry8sept berry8oct berry8nov

category
category8Shrubs
category
category8Broadleaf
category
category8Deciduous
status
statusZneophyte
flower
flower8purple
 
flower
flower8red
 
inner
inner8yellow
 
morph
morph8actino
 
petals
petalsZ5
 
stem
stem8round
 
stem
stem8spines stem8thorns
(prickles)
sex
sexZbisexual
 

29th March 2018, a garden, Broad Oak, Brede, Rye, Sussex Photo: © Danny Coope
The Salmonberry shrub.


29th March 2018, a garden, Broad Oak, Brede, Rye, Sussex Photo: © Danny Coope
The leaves have yet to open properly. Several flowers have opened, and others in dangling buds yet to open.


13th May 2015, unknown place. Photo: © Bastiaan Brak
This shrub grows to 2m in height and has weak untroublesome spines which are mainly lower down the stems. There are four rather similar berried Rubus species to Salmonberry, of which Salmonberry is the more frequently encountered, especially in Northern Ireland. The flower colour is reddish-purple to a deep pink, and droop more-or-less downwards.


13th May 2015, unknown place. Photo: © Bastiaan Brak
With 5 large triangular sepals and 5 curved petals folded along the centreline.


13th May 2015, unknown place. Photo: © Bastiaan Brak
Leaf veins visible against the light.


13th May 2015, unknown place. Photo: © Bastiaan Brak
Leaf teeth lacerate (unevenly cut with smaller teeth on larger teeth).


13th May 2015, unknown place. Photo: © Bastiaan Brak
In the centre a dense ring of stamens surrounds a central cluster of slightly shorter styles with discoidal stigmas at the ends.


13th May 2015, unknown place. Photo: © Bastiaan Brak
The leaves are roughly diamond shaped and in clusters of three (ternate).


13th May 2015, unknown place. Photo: © Bastiaan Brak
The petals have dropped off leaving just the stamens and styles within the 5 triangular sepals. The orange fruit will develop later in the centre beneath the styles.


14th June 2018, a garden, Broad Oak, Brede, Rye, Sussex Photo: © Danny Coope
The fruit is orange, rather than the pinkish salmon-colour which 'salmonberry' might imply. It consista of a drupe containing a small open cluster of drupelets, each one containing a single, hard and pitted seed. Each druplet has its longish stigma/style still attached at the apex. A concolorous skirt is directed upwardly with its numerous anthers still attached.


Uniquely identifiable characteristics

Distinguishing Feature :

Salmonberry is a neophyte which has naturalised in hedges and woods across Britain. It is in the Rubus genus subgenus 5: Idaeobatus which contains other edible fruits such as Raspberry and Japanese Wineberry. There exist quite a few other subgenera of Rubus genus containing various other fruits, amongst them Strawberry, Cloudberry, Thimbleberry, etc, but your Author wont list the subgenera for fear they all might change places as taxonomists change their minds over and over again then back again...


'Salmonberry' and 'False Salmonberry de-convolved':
According to Blamey, Fitter & Fitter 'Wild Flowers' book, Rubus parviflorus is called Thimbleberry, aka Salmonberry. The latter is wrong: only Thimbleberry should now not be used as a Common Name for Rubus parviflorus.

Also according to Blamey, Fitter & Fitter 'Wild Flowers' book, Rubus spectabilis is called False Salmonberry. False Salmonberry should not now be used as the common name for Rubus spectabilis, but rather Salmonberry should!
Confused? So was your Author! But the famous taxonomist Clive Stace has sorted out this confusion: Salmonberry is Rubus spectabilis and Thimbleberry is Rubus parviflorus - and there is no False Salmonberry!.


A purple to dull-blue dye can be extracted from the fruit, which is surprising given its strikingly bright orange colour.


  Rubus spectabilis  ⇐ Global Aspect ⇒ Rosaceae  

Distribution
 family8Rose family8Rosaceae
 BSBI maps
genus8Rubus
Rubus
(Brambles)

SALMONBERRY

FALSE SALMONBERRY

Rubus spectabilis

Rose Family [Rosaceae]