12. Rubus mollior L.H. Bailey
Map 2510
Canes to 250 cm
long and 100–180 cm tall, 4–9 mm in diameter. Prickles moderate, 0.7–2.2 per cm
of cane, 5–7 mm long. Petioles with dense nonglandular hairs, armed with
broad-based downward-curved prickles to 3 mm long. Stipules 7–10 mm long,
linear. Primocane leaflet margins finely toothed, the upper surface thinly
hairy, the undersurface velvety hairy, often appearing grayish with a rusty
midvein. Central primocane leaflets 7.5–11.0 cm long, 4.0–6.5 cm wide,
elliptic-obovate or oblong-obovate, rounded at the base, short-tapered to a
sharply pointed tip, the leaflet stalk about 1/5–3/10 as long as the leaflet
blade; lateral leaflets elliptic-obovate, rounded to angled at the base,
abruptly short-tapered to a sharply pointed tip, the middle pair stalked, the
basal pair nearly sessile. Inflorescences typically racemose, 9–12 cm long, 4–7
cm wide, with 5–9 flowers and 3–7 bracts, these fairly small at flowering, but
sometimes becoming leafy and prominent as the fruits develop, hiding the fruits
later in development; flower and inflorescence stalks with nonglandular hairs
and occasional needlelike prickles. Sepals 5–6 mm long, 2–4 mm wide,
triangular-ovate to elliptic, abruptly tapered to a short, slender point.
Petals 10–12 mm long, obovate. Fruits 10–15 mm long, 7–12 mm wide, globose to
cylindric. May.
Scattered,
mostly south of the Missouri River (Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Kansas).
Bottomland forests, mesic upland forests, swamps, upland prairies, and margins
of ponds and lakes; also fencerows.
Rubus mollior is nearly an Ozark endemic.