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I show this picture with mixed feelings, taken from a former garden. It seems a pity not to mention Rubus fruticosus, which has always had a significant impact on the garden. For several years I conducted a seemingly futile battle with it as it marauded from the north. Slowly my trees have established and shaded them out. I helped them along with a slasher and a bonfire but I needed the shade to make real progress. They are pretty in flower, delicious in fruit and there has barely been a day in the last 30 years that I haven't had to pull a thorn or two out of my hands. I can't recall a plant that has touched me more closely so I can hardly ignore it. In recent years the bramble has been split into dozens of microspecies. I haven't been able to keep up, I haven't tried very hard. They are all prickly, all invasive. They all have juicy black fruits, some more palatable than others and I am going to plead ignorance and continue to call them all Rubus fruticosus. Some brave botanists distingish them at species level, many continue to refer to them as R. fruticosus agg. In the garden they can be divided into to clear groups, the "yum-yum ouch!" species and the "yum-yum-****" ones. Clive Stace offers a key to identify the species in his New Flora of the British Isles and says: "...most of the characters used are relative and a high level of success will be achieved only after much experience." Keith Spurgin says in "A Flora of Cornwall" (Colin French): "Including the Isles of scilly, brambles have been recorded in 3834 1km squares (98%). However, most botanists do not record Rubi to species level, consequently this 'complete' coverage ... is largely the result of the recording of R. fruticosus agg." |
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1978 |
14th August 2010 | 1st January 2015 | 22nd October 2020 |