Family |
Rosaceae
Rubus canescens
DC.
Rubus canescens A. DC.
(in Fl. Fr., ed. 3, 6: 545; 1815 – Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, Pl. CXC nº 2; 1969)
• Life-form & habit: Deciduous shrub with arching or trailing stems (canes) 1–3 m long, rooting at the tips when in contact with the soil. Stems angled, densely covered with fine greyish hairs and numerous slender, slightly curved prickles — giving the plant its characteristic greyish aspect.
• Leaves: Palmately compound with 3–5 leaflets; leaflets ovate to obovate, 3–6 × 2–4 cm, irregularly serrate, apex acute; upper surface green and slightly rugose, underside densely canescent to whitish-tomentose. Petiole and rachis prickly; stipules linear-lanceolate.
• Inflorescence & flowers: Terminal or axillary racemes or panicles of 5–20 flowers on short, pubescent pedicels. Calyx lobes triangular, reflexed after anthesis. Petals obovate, white to pale pink, 6–8 mm long. Stamens numerous; styles free, surrounded by a hairy torus.
• Fruit: Aggregate of numerous small druplets forming a blackish-purple berry (fruit of commerce “blackberry”), 1–1.5 cm in diameter, juicy but often slightly astringent.
• Phenology: Flowers from April to June; fruits ripen from June to August.
• Habitat & elevation: Hedgerows, forest margins, and moist rocky slopes, often near watercourses, from 200 to 1 600 m; prefers semi-shaded and calcareous environments.
• Lebanese distribution: Recorded by Mouterde from Mount Lebanon and the Beqaa — especially Barouk, Falougha, Dahr el-Baïdar, and Zahlé; also observed in the humid valleys of northern Lebanon (Bsharré and Ehden).
• Native range: Mediterranean and Western Asiatic region — widespread from southern Europe and the Aegean to the Levant and western Iran; locally common in Lebanon and Syria.
• ⚠️ Taxonomic note: Part of the complex and polymorphic Rubus fruticosus aggregate, R. canescens is recognised by its greyish canescent indumentum, slender recurved prickles, and whitish underside of leaves. It may intergrade with R. sanctus and R. discolor in the Levant, but differs by its denser tomentum and smaller, less lustrous fruits. A characteristic bramble of Mediterranean mountain scrub and stream edges.