prickly Florida blackberry Rosaceae Rubus argutus

Leaf:Alternate, palmately compound, 3 to 5, but mostly 3 lanceolate to ellptical leaflets, serrated margins, prickles on petiole, shiny green above, paler below.
Flower:Showy white flowers (one inch across), appearing in a terminal cluster in late spring to early summer.
Fruit:Juicy, black multiple of drupes, 1/2 inch long; when picked, the fruit does not separate from its core, ripens in June and July.
Twig:Stout, strongly angled canes with large slightly hooked prickles, dull reddish brown, lacking glaucous bloom. Cane tips do not root.
Bark:Similar to twigs but darkens with age.
Form:Sprawling, arching canes form dense thickets often well over head high.

leaf twig bark form map

Notes: