Vascular Plants of North Carolina
Account for Lucretia Dewberry - Rubus roribaccus   (Bailey) Rydb.
Members of Rosaceae:
Members of Rubus with account distribution info or public map:
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Section 6 » Order Rosales » Family Rosaceae
Author(Bailey) Rydb.
DistributionThis taxon was recently elevated by Weakley (2024) from R. flagellaris, as some other authorities have done as well. NC specimens are only in Carnegie Museum (based on the SERNEC search), from 1966 in Watauga and Yancey counties. These collections and dates make it clear that hardly any other herbarium has gone through its collections of R. flagellaris to determine if any are this "new" species. Carnegie also has collections from Rutherford (at an un-natural site) and Brunswick, which seems way out of range. These are not mapped below.

"NJ to NE, south to sw. VA and ne. OK" (Weakley 2024).
AbundanceApparently rare in the northern Mountains, only. However, as this is a poorly known taxon, the website editors suggest for now a State Rank of SU (= Undetermined).
HabitatNot given in Weakley (2024), but the NC specimens suggest found on roadbanks, wooded edges, etc.
PhenologyProbably blooms in spring and fruits in early summer.
IdentificationThis dewberry differs from R. flagellaris and R. steelei by "Leaf undersurface densely hairy, soft to the touch", versus "Leaf undersurface thinly hairy, not soft to the touch (when fully developed)" in that pair of species, based on Weakley (2024).
Taxonomic CommentsUsually included within R. flagellaris, though some authorities have resurrected this taxon to species status.

Other Common Name(s)Velvet-leaf Dewberry
State Rank[SU]
Global RankGNA
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