Western Raspberry, Rubus leucodermis

About Western Raspberry (Rubus leucodermis) 7 Nurseries Carry This Plant

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Rubus leucodermis (Blackcap Raspberry, Black Raspberry, or Whitebark Raspberry, and native: Blue Raspberry) is a species of Rubus native to western North America, from British Columbia, Canada south to California, New Mexico and Mexico. It is closely related to the eastern Black Raspberry Rubus occidentalis. It is a deciduous shrub growing to 0.5-2 meter tall, with thorny shoots. While the crown is perennial, the canes are biennial, growing vegetatively one year, flowering and fruiting the second and then dying. Like with other dark raspberries, the tips of the 1st year canes (primocanes) often grow downward to the soil in the fall, and take root and form tip layers which become new plants. The leaves are pinnate, with five leaflets on leaves strong-growing stems in their first year, and three leaflets on leaves on flowering branchlets with white, seldom light purple flowers. The fruit is 1-1.2 centimeter diameter, reddish-purple, dark blue to nearly black when ripe, and has high contents of anthocyanins and ellagic acid.

Plant Description

Plant Type

Shrub, Vine

Size

1 - 6.6 ft tall

Form

Mounding

Growth Rate

Fast

Dormancy

Winter Deciduous

Flower Color

White, Purple, Red, Blue, Black

Flowering Season

Spring

Wildlife Supported

Butterflies & moths hosted ( 64 likely * ) SHOW ALL

White-lined Sphinx Hyles lineataHyles lineata

Alfalfa Looper Moth Autographa californicaAutographa californica

Elegant Sheepmoth Hemileuca eglanterinaHemileuca eglanterina

Armyworm Moth Mythimna unipunctaMythimna unipuncta

Red-Humped Caterpillar Schizura concinnaSchizura concinna

Isabella Tiger Moth Pyrrharctia isabellaPyrrharctia isabella

Silver-spotted Tiger Moth Lophocampa argentataLophocampa argentata

Landscaping Information

Sun

Part Shade

Moisture

Moderate - High

Nurseries

Carried by 7

Ease of Care

Moderately Easy

Soil Description

Adaptable, tolerant of sand, loam and clay

Common uses

Bird Gardens

Sunset Zones?

1, 2, 4*, 5*, 6*, 7*, 8, 9, 14*, 15*, 16*, 17*, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24

Natural Setting

Site Type

Moist rocky places

Climate

Annual Precipitation: 9.0" - 153.2", Summer Precipitation: 0.33" - 5.92", Coldest Month: 21.6" - 52.6", Hottest Month: 42.4" - 79.3", Humidity: 0.01" - 26.19", Elevation: 32" - 10598"

Alternative Names

Botanical Names: Rubus leucodermis var. leucodermis,Rubus leucodermis var. bernardinus,Rubus leucodermis var. trinitatis
Common Names: Smoothleaf Raspberry, Waxleaf Raspberry, Whitebark Raspberry

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Sources include: Wikipedia. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the California Consortia of Herbaria, Sunset information provided by Jepson Flora Project. Propogation from seed information provided by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include CalPhotos, Wikimedia Commons, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include Calflora, CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online, Jepson Flora Project, Las Pilitas, Theodore Payne, Tree of Life, The Xerces Society, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.

Links: Jepson eFlora Taxon Page CalPhotos Wikipedia Calflora

Western Raspberry

Rubus leucodermis

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Western RaspberryRubus leucodermis

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Western Raspberry

Rubus leucodermis