- You are here:
- Full Key
- Woody plants
- Broad-leaved woody plants
- Rubus cuneifolius
Rubus cuneifolius — sand blackberry
Copyright: various copyright holders. To reuse an image, please click it to see who you will need to contact.
Facts
N/A
Habitat
Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), meadows and fields
New England distribution
Adapted from BONAP data
Native: indigenous.
Non-native: introduced (intentionally or unintentionally); has become naturalized.
County documented: documented to exist in the county by evidence (herbarium specimen, photograph). Also covers those considered historical (not seen in 20 years).
State documented: documented to exist in the state, but not documented to a county within the state. Also covers those considered historical (not seen in 20 years).
Note: when native and non-native populations both exist in a county, only native status is shown on the map.
Found this plant? Take a photo and post a sighting.
Characteristics
- Habitat
- terrestrial
- New England state
-
- Connecticut
- Massachusetts
- New Hampshire
- Growth form
- the plant is a shrub (i.e., a woody plant with several stems growing from the base)
- Leaf type
- the leaf blade is compound (i.e., made up of two or more discrete leaflets
- Leaves per node
- there is one leaf per node along the stem
- Leaf blade edges
- the edge of the leaf blade has teeth
- Leaf duration
- the leaves drop off in winter (or they wither but persist on the plant)
- armature on plant
- the plant has spines, prickles, or thorns
- Leaf stalk
- the leaves have leaf stalks
- Fruit type (general)
- the fruit is fleshy
- Bark texture
- the bark of an adult plant is thin and smooth
- Twig winter color
- green
- Bud scale number
- there are three or more scales on the winter bud, and they overlap like shingles, with one edge covered and the other edge exposed
-
Buds or leaf scars
- Bud scale number
- there are three or more scales on the winter bud, and they overlap like shingles, with one edge covered and the other edge exposed
- Bud scar shape (Fraxinus)
- NA
- Collateral buds
- there are no collateral buds on the sides of the branches
- Leaf scar arrangement
- there is one leaf scar per node on the stem or twig
- Superposed buds
- there are no superposed buds on the branch
-
Flowers
- Carpels fused
-
- the carpel is solitary or (if 2 or more) the carpels are not fused to one another
- the carpels are fused to one another
- Enlarged sterile flowers
- there are no enlarged sterile flowers on the plant
- Flower petal color
- white
- Flower symmetry
- there are two or more ways to evenly divide the flower (the flower is radially symmetrical)
- Hairs on ovary (Amelanchier)
- NA
- Hypanthium present
- the flower has a hypanthium
- Inflorescence type
-
- the inflorescence has only one flower on it
- the inflorescence is a corymb (with long lower branches and shorter upper branches, giving it a more or less flat-topped look)
- the inflorescence is a raceme (a long unbranched stem with stalked flowers growing along it)
- Number of pistils
- 6 or more
- Ovary position
- the ovary is above the point of petal and/or sepal attachment
- Petal and sepal arrangement
- the flower includes two cycles of petal- or sepal-like structures
- Petal appearance
- the petals are thin and delicate, and pigmented (colored other than green or brown)
- Petal fusion
- the perianth parts are separate
- Sepal cilia (Ilex)
- NA
- Sepals fused only to sepals
- the sepals are separate from one another
- Stamen number
- 13 or more
-
Fruits or seeds
- Berry color
-
- NA
- black
- Fruit tissue origin
- there are no flower parts that form part of the fruit
- Fruit type (general)
- the fruit is fleshy
- Fruit type (specific)
-
- the fruit is a berry (fleshy, with the wall enclosing one or more sections, with two or more seeds)
- the fruit is a drupe (fleshy, with a firm inner ovary wall that encloses a single seed)
- the fruit is an aggregate (composed of multiple fused ovaries from one flower)
- Nut with spines (Fagaceae)
- NA
- Wings on fruit
- there are no wings on the fruit
-
Glands or sap
- Sap color
- the sap is clear and watery
- Stalked glands on fruit (Rosa)
- NA
-
Growth form
- Growth form
- the plant is a shrub (i.e., a woody plant with several stems growing from the base)
-
Leaves
- Hairs on underside of leaf blade
- the underside of the leaf has hairs on it
- Hairs on upper side of leaf blade
- the upper side of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs
- Leaf blade base shape
-
- the base of the leaf blade is cuneate (wedge-shaped, tapers to the base with relatively straight, converging edges), or narrow
- the base of the leaf blade is rounded
- the base of the leaf blade is truncate (ends abruptly in a more or less straight line as though cut off)
- Leaf blade edges
- the edge of the leaf blade has teeth
- Leaf blade edges (Acer)
- NA
- Leaf blade flatness
- the leaf is flat (planar) at the edges
- Leaf blade hairs
- the leaf blade has tangled or woolly-looking hairs, without glands
- Leaf blade scales
- there are no scales on the leaf blades
- Leaf blade shape
-
- the leaf blade is oblanceolate (lance-shaped, but with the widest point above the middle of the leaf blade)
- the leaf blade is obovate (egg-shaped, but with the widest point above the middle of the leaf blade)
- Leaf blade texture
- the leaf blade is herbaceous (has a leafy texture)
- Leaf blade translucent dots
- there are no translucent dots on the leaf blade
- Leaf duration
- the leaves drop off in winter (or they wither but persist on the plant)
- Leaf form
- the plant is broad-leaved (with broadly flattened leaf blades)
- Leaf lobe tips (Quercus)
- NA
- Leaf stalk
- the leaves have leaf stalks
- Leaf teeth
-
- the edge of the leaf blade is entire (has no teeth or lobes)
- the leaf blade margin is serrate (with forward-pointing) or dentate (with outward-pointing) with medium-sized to coarse teeth
- Leaf teeth hairs (Carya)
- NA
- Leaf type
- the leaf blade is compound (i.e., made up of two or more discrete leaflets
- Leaves per node
- there is one leaf per node along the stem
- Specific leaf type
-
- the leaf is compound, with three leaflets
- the leaf is palmately compound with more than three leaflets
-
Place
- Habitat
- terrestrial
- New England state
-
- Connecticut
- Massachusetts
- New Hampshire
- Specific habitat
-
- man-made or disturbed habitats
- meadows or fields
-
Scent
- Plant odor
- the plant does not have much of an odor, or it has an unpleasant or repellant odor
-
Stem, shoot, branch
- Aerial roots
- the plant has no aerial roots
- Bark texture
- the bark of an adult plant is thin and smooth
- Branch brittleness (willows only)
- NA
- Branch cross-section
- the branch is circular in cross-section, or it has five or more sides, so that there are no sharp angles
- First-year cane (Rubus)
- the first year cane stems are upright or arching
- Pith shape
- the outline of the pith in a twig is roughly round
- Twig papillae (Vaccinium species only)
- NA
- Twig winter color
- green
- Wings on branch
- the branch does not have wings on it
- armature on plant
- the plant has spines, prickles, or thorns
Wetland status
Occurs only in non-wetlands. (Wetland indicator code: UPL)
In New England
Distribution
- Connecticut
- present
- Maine
- absent
- Massachusetts
- present
- New Hampshire
- present
- Rhode Island
- absent
- Vermont
- absent
Conservation status
Exact status definitions can vary from state to state. For details, please check with your state.
- Connecticut
- uncommon (S-rank: S3), special concern (code: SC)
- Massachusetts
- extremely rare to rare (S-rank: S1S2)
- New Hampshire
- extremely rare (S-rank: S1), endangered (code: E)
From Flora Novae Angliae dichotomous key
7. Rubus cuneifolius Pursh NC
sand blackberry. Rubus chapmanii Bailey; R. cuneifolius Pursh var. angustior Bailey; R. cuneifolius Pursh var. subellipticus Fern. • CT, MA, NH. Fields, rocky pastures and hillsides, clearings.