Rubus parviflorus

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Thimbleberry
Rubus parviflorus 9481.JPG
Status TNC G5.svg
Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae
Genus: Rubus
Subgenus: Rubus subg. Anoplobatus
Species:
R. parviflorus
Binomial name
Rubus parviflorus
Nutt. 1818
Synonyms [1]
Synonymy
  • Bossekia nutkanaGreene
  • Bossekia parviflora(Nutt.) Greene
  • Rubacer parviflorum(Nutt.) Rydb.
  • Rubus natkanusG.Don
  • Rubus nutkanusMoc. ex Ser.
  • Rubus nutkanus var. nuttalliiTorr. & A.Gray
  • Rubus nutkanus var. parviflorus(Nutt.) Focke
  • Rubus parviflorus var. bifariusFernald
  • Rubus parviflorus var. grandiflorusFarw.
  • Rubus parviflorus var. heteradeniusFernald
  • Rubus parviflorus var. hypomalacusFernald
  • Rubus parviflorus subsp. velutinus(Hook. & Arn.) R.L.Taylor & MacBryde
  • Rubus velutinusHook. & Arn.
  • Rubus ribifoliusC.K.Schneid.

Rubus parviflorus, commonly called thimbleberry [2] (also known as redcaps), is a species of Rubus native to northern temperate regions of North America. The plant has large hairy leaves and no thorns. It bears edible red fruit similar in appearance to a raspberry, but shorter, almost hemispherical. It has not been commercially developed for the retail berry market, but is cultivated for landscapes.

Contents

Description

Rubus parviflorus is a dense shrub up to 2.5 meters (8 feet) tall with canes no more than 1.5 centimeters (12 inch) in diameter, often growing in large clumps which spread through the plant's underground rhizome. Unlike many other members of the genus, it has no prickles. The leaves are palmate, up to 20 cm (8 in) across (much larger than most other Rubus species), with five lobes; they are soft and fuzzy in texture. [3] [4] [5] [6]

The flowers are 2 to 6 cm (34 to 2+14 in) in diameter, with five white petals and numerous pale yellow stamens. The flower of this species is among the largest of any Rubus species. [7] [3]

The plant produces edible composite fruit approximately 1 cm (12 in) in diameter, which ripen to a bright red in mid to late summer. Like raspberries, it is not a true berry, but instead an aggregate fruit of numerous drupelets around a central core. The drupelets may be carefully removed intact, separately from the core, when picked, leaving a hollow fruit which bears a resemblance to a thimble, perhaps giving the plant its name. [3] [8]

Etymology

The specific epithet parviflorus ("small-flowered") is a misnomer, since the species' flower is the largest of the genus. [7] [3] The Concow tribe calls the plant wä-sā’ (Konkow language). [9]

Distribution and habitat

Rubus parviflorus is native to western North America from Alaska south as far as California, New Mexico, Chihuahua, and San Luis Potosí. Its range extends east to the Rocky Mountains and discontinuously to the Great Lakes Region. It grows from sea level in the north, up to elevations of 3,000 m (10,000 ft) in the south. [10] [11] [12]

R. parviflorus typically grows along roadsides, railroad tracks, and in forest clearings, commonly appearing as an early part of the ecological succession in clear cut and forest fire areas.

Thimbleberry is found in forest understories with typical flora associates including coastal woodfern (Dryopteris arguta), Trillium ovatum and Smilacina racemosa . [13]

Ecology

The fruit is consumed by birds and bears, while black-tailed deer browse the young leaves and stems. [14] Larvae of the wasp species Diastrophus kincaidii (thimbleberry gallmaker) [15] develop in large, swollen galls on R. parviflorus stems. [16] An aphid of genus Masonaphis and a midge of genus Dasineura also induce thimbleberry galls, on the leaves and petioles respectively. [17]

Cultivation

Cultivated plant in the Helsinki University Botanical Garden in Finland Rubus parviflorus Valkovatukka Nutkahallon C DSC03153.JPG
Cultivated plant in the Helsinki University Botanical Garden in Finland

R. parviflorus is cultivated by specialty plant nurseries as an ornamental plant, used in traditional, native plant, and wildlife gardens, in natural landscaping design, and in habitat restoration projects. The fruit has fragrance. [18] Thimbleberry plants can be propagated most successfully by planting dormant rhizome segments, as well as from seeds or stem cuttings.

The flowers support pollinators, including of special value to native bees, honeybees, and bumblebees. [7] The fruit is attractive to various birds and mammals, including bears. [7] [19] It is the larval host and a nectar source for the yellow-banded sphinx moth. [7]

Cultivars

Cultivars of the plant are selected for ornamental qualities, such as for their fragrant flowers and/or attractive fall foliage color. [20]

A double-flowered form of the thimbleberry was discovered near Squamish, British Columbia, by Iva Angerman (1903–2008) of West Vancouver. [21] This clone does not appear to be in commerce, but is grown in the Botanic Garden of the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, and in the Native Plant Garden of the Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria.

Berries foraged in New York State Ripe thimbleberry fruit.jpg
Berries foraged in New York State

Uses

Cuisine

Thimbleberry fruits are flatter and softer (more fragile) than raspberries, but similarly have many small seeds. Because the fruit is so soft, it does not pack or ship well, so thimbleberries are rarely cultivated commercially. [22]

Wild thimbleberries can be eaten raw or dried (the water content of ripe thimbleberries is quite variable), and can be made into a jam [23] which is sold as a local delicacy in some parts of their range, notably in the Keweenaw Peninsula of Upper Michigan. [24]

Traditional medicine

Many parts of the plant were used in folk medicine by Native Americans. [23] [20] [25] A tea made from its leaves or roots was thought to be a treatment for wounds, burns, acne, or digestive problems; [26] a tea made from the canes was thought to be useful as a diuretic. [27] As of 2019, there is no evidence from modern clinical research or practice that R. parviflorus is effective for treating any disease.

Thimbleberry leaves can be used in place of toilet paper when in the wilderness. [26]

Related Research Articles

<i>Rubus</i> Genus of plants in the rose family

Rubus is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, subfamily Rosoideae, commonly known as brambles. Fruits of various species are known as raspberries, blackberries, dewberries, and bristleberries. It is a diverse genus, with the estimated number of Rubus species varying from 250 to over 1000, found across all continents except Antarctica.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raspberry</span> Edible fruit

The raspberry is the edible fruit of several plant species in the genus Rubus of the rose family, most of which are in the subgenus Idaeobatus. The name also applies to these plants themselves. Raspberries are perennial with woody stems.

<i>Rubus idaeus</i> Red raspberry

Rubus idaeus is a red-fruited species of Rubus native to Europe and northern Asia and commonly cultivated in other temperate regions.

<i>Rubus spectabilis</i> Plant species

Rubus spectabilis, the salmonberry, is a species of bramble in the rose family Rosaceae, native to the west coast of North America from west-central Alaska to California, inland as far as Idaho. Like many other species in the genus Rubus, the salmonberry plant bears edible fruit, typically yellow-orange or red in color, resembling raspberries in appearance.

<i>Rubus phoenicolasius</i> Berry and plant

Rubus phoenicolasius is an Asian species of raspberry in the rose family, native to China, Japan, and Korea.

<i>Rubus occidentalis</i> Berry and plant

Rubus occidentalis is a species of Rubus native to eastern North America. Its common name black raspberry is shared with other closely related species. Other names occasionally used include bear's eye blackberry, black cap, black cap raspberry, and scotch cap.

<i>Rubus odoratus</i> Berry and plant

Rubus odoratus, the purple-flowered raspberry, flowering raspberry, or Virginia raspberry, is a species of Rubus, native to eastern North America, from Nova Scotia west to Ontario and Wisconsin, and south along the Appalachian Mountains as far as Georgia and Alabama.

<i>Rubus leucodermis</i> Species of plant

Rubus leucodermis, also called whitebark raspberry, blackcap raspberry, or blue raspberry, is a species of Rubus native to western North America.

<i>Rubus strigosus</i> Species of vine

Rubus strigosus, the American red raspberry or American raspberry, is a species of Rubus native to much of North America. It was often treated as a variety or subspecies of the closely related Eurasian Rubus idaeus, but is now more commonly treated as a distinct species. Many of the commercial raspberry cultivars grown for their fruit derive from hybrids between R. strigosus and R. idaeus; see Raspberry for more details.

<i>Rubus armeniacus</i> Species of fruit and plant

Rubus armeniacus, the Himalayan blackberry or Armenian blackberry, is a species of Rubus in the blackberry group Rubus subgenus Rubus series Discolores Focke. It is native to Armenia and northern Iran, and widely invasive elsewhere. Both its scientific name and origin have been the subject of much confusion, with much of the literature referring to it as either Rubus procerus or Rubus discolor, and often mistakenly citing its origin as western European. Flora of North America, published in 2014, considers the taxonomy unsettled, and tentatively uses the older name Rubus bifrons.

<i>Dryopteris arguta</i> Species of fern

Dryopteris arguta, with the common name coastal woodfern, is a species of wood fern. It is native to the west coast and western interior mountain ranges of North America, from British Columbia, throughout California, and into Arizona.

<i>Rubus rosifolius</i> Berry and plant

Rubus rosifolius,, also known as roseleaf bramble, Mauritius raspberry, thimbleberry,Vanuatu raspberry and bramble of the Cape is a prickly subshrub native to rainforest and tall open forest of the Himalayas, East Asia, and eastern Australia. Its double-flowered variety is named Rubus rosifolius var. coronarius.

<i>Rubus repens</i> Genus of flowering plants

Rubus repens(dewdrop, false violet, star violet, Robin runaway. French Canadian: dalibarde rampante) is a perennial plant in the rose family, native to eastern and central Canada and to the northeastern and north-central United States. It is part of the genus Rubus, which includes brambles, blackberries, and raspberries. Some authorities consider it the sole member of a separate genus, Dalibarda. It is fairly easily grown in shady locations in damp to wet, acidic soils, and is frequently used in wildflower and bog gardens as a ground-cover.

<i>Prosartes hookeri</i> Species of flowering plant

Prosartes hookeri is a North American species of flowering plants in the lily family known by the common names drops of gold and Hooker's fairy bells.

<i>Rubus nivalis</i> Berry and plant

Rubus nivalis, commonly known as snow raspberry, is a species of flowering plant in the rose family. It is native to northwestern North America: British Columbia, Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and far northern California.

<i>Rubus lasiococcus</i> Species of flowering plant

Rubus lasiococcus is a species of wild blackberry known by the common names roughfruit berry and dwarf bramble. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to northern California, where it grows in mountain forests. In the southern half of its range the plant is commonly found in a plant community in the understory of mountain hemlock and Shasta red fir.

<i>Rubus pubescens</i> Berry and plant

Rubus pubescens is a herbaceous perennial widespread across much of Canada and the northern United States, from Alaska to Newfoundland, south as far as Oregon, Colorado, and West Virginia.

<i>Rubus pedatus</i> Berry and plant

Rubus pedatus is an Asian and North American species of raspberry known under the common names five-leaved bramble, strawberryleaf raspberry and creeping raspberry.

<i>Rubus illecebrosus</i> Berry and plant

Rubus illecebrosus is a red-fruited species of Rubus that originally came from Japan, but is also very popular in some European countries like Lithuania. Common names include balloon berry and strawberry raspberry. It has become sparingly naturalized in scattered locations in Canada, the United States, and South America.

<i>Diastrophus kincaidii</i> Species of gall-inducing wasp

Diastrophus kincaidii, also known as the thimbleberry gallmaker wasp, is a species of cynipid wasp that induces integral stem galls on thimbleberry plants. Galls induced by this wasp are the foundation of a derivative ecosystem, supporting a weevil and at least nine parasitic wasps.

References

  1. The Plant List, Rubus parviflorus Nutt.
  2. "Rubus parviflorus". Germplasm Resources Information Network . Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture . Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Flora of North America, Rubus parviflorus Nuttall, 1818. Thimbleberry
  4. Klinkenberg, Brian, ed. (2014). "Rubus parviflorus". E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia [eflora.bc.ca]. Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Retrieved 2016-07-03.
  5. Giblin, David, ed. (2015). "Rubus parviflorus". WTU Herbarium Image Collection. Burke Museum, University of Washington. Retrieved 2016-07-03.
  6. "Rubus parviflorus". Jepson eFlora: Taxon page. Jepson Herbarium; University of California, Berkeley. 2015. Retrieved 2016-07-03.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, University of Texas — Rubus parviflorus . accessed 2.12.2013
  8. Earl J.S. Rook, Rubus parviflorus Thimbleberry photo
  9. Chesnut, Victor King (1902). Plants used by the Indians of Mendocino County, California. Government Printing Office. p. 408. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
  10. Sullivan, Steven. K. (2015). "Rubus parviflorus". Wildflower Search. Retrieved 2016-07-03.
  11. "Rubus parviflorus". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture; Natural Resources Conservation Service. 2015. Retrieved 2016-07-03.
  12. SEINet, Southwestern Biodiversity, Arizona chapter includes photos, description, distribution map
  13. C. Michael Hogan. 2008. Coastal Woodfern (Dryopteris arguta), GlobalTwitcher, ed. N. Stromberg Archived 2011-07-11 at the Wayback Machine
  14. Fagan, Damian (2019). Wildflowers of Oregon: A Field Guide to Over 400 Wildflowers, Trees, and Shrubs of the Coast, Cascades, and High Desert. Guilford, CT: FalconGuides. p. 89. ISBN   978-1-4930-3633-2. OCLC   1073035766.
  15. "Thimbleberry Gallmaker (Diastrophus kincaidii)". iNaturalist. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  16. "Diastrophus kincaidii". www.gallformers.org. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  17. Russo, Ronald A. (2021). Plant Galls of the Western United States. Princeton University Press. pp. 322–323. doi:10.1515/9780691213408. ISBN   978-0-691-21340-8. LCCN   2020949502. OCLC   1239984577. S2CID   238148746.
  18. Las Pilitas Nursery horticultural treatment: Rubus parviflorus — Thimbleberry . accessed 2.12.2013
  19. Whitney, Stephen (1985). Western Forests (The Audubon Society Nature Guides). New York: Knopf. p.  420. ISBN   0-394-73127-1.
  20. 1 2 US Forest Service Fire Ecology
  21. Griffiths, Anthony J. F. and Ganders, Fred R. (1983). Wildflower Genetics-a Field Guide for British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest. Flight Press, Vancouver. ISBN   0-919843-00-X.
  22. "Wild berries". Washington State Magazine. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
  23. 1 2 "Search for Rubus parviflorus". Ethnobotany, University of Michigan. 2016-03-03. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
  24. "Thimbleberries Keweenaw Michigan". www.visitkeweenaw.com. 2023-07-25. Retrieved 2024-07-28.
  25. Native American Ethnobotany (University of Michigan - Dearborn) — for Rubus parviflorus . accessed 2.12.2013
  26. 1 2 Holly, Henry (18 August 2014). "Thimbleberry". The Northwest Forager™. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  27. Lyle, Katie Letcher (2010) [2004]. The Complete Guide to Edible Wild Plants, Mushrooms, Fruits, and Nuts: How to Find, Identify, and Cook Them (2nd ed.). Guilford, CN: FalconGuides. p. 75. ISBN   978-1-59921-887-8. OCLC   560560606.