Rubus incurvatus – Series SERIES
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This species has deep pink flowers, thinly hairy stems with fairly strong prickles and whitish-felted ovate leaflets. Historically it was recorded mainly from North Wales with a record from Denmark, but more recently has been found across much of Ireland and is thinly scattered across England. These photographs were taken at Studland, Dorset in 2016.
The flowering panicle has a cylindrical compact head of flowers and the rachis is strongly pubescent with occasional short-stalked glands and frequent quite long downturned or curved prickles. There is usually a single broad leaf at the base of the main inflorescence and one or more trifoliate leaves lower down, subtending the lower panicle branches. The rachis turns reddish purple in exposed conditions.
Flowers start off with deep pink petals in bud but in these photographs most have quickly bleached due to exposure to the sun. The flowers are c.2.5cm diameter with broadly elliptical to almost round petals c.15 x 11mm, which are sometimes shallowly notched. Stamens are longer than the styles and appear to be rather sparse and 'loose' in appearance in these photographs. Styles are yellow to pale pink in colour. The young carpels and receptacle are hairy.
Sepals are long-pointed, patent and concave with erect, often leafy tips. They are strongly felted on both sides (noted to be conspicously white inside) and have fairly conspicuous pale margins. A few small acicles may be visible.
Leaves are 3-5 foliolate (usually 5 leaflets), shiny and only sparsely hairy above, sharply and deeply serrate with 'crisped' undulate margins. The terminal leaflet is ovate to broadly elliptical in shape or somewhat rhomboid, c.8 x 6cm, with an emarginate or narrowly cordate base and a cuspidate to acuminate apex. Note that the apex is not markedly differentiated from the rest of the leaflet as it is in most other brambles. The terminal leaflet can also somewhat incised or lobed (see the third photo below) and note also that these leaves growing in unshaded conditions are rather 3-D in appearance with incurved as well as undulate margins.
Leaflets are strongly greenish-white felted below. Note the rhomboid shape and somewhat lobed appearance of this terminal leaflet.
The first-year stem is low arching, with blunt ridges and furrows, turning reddish-purple in colour. It is sparsely hairy and only has sessile glands. The prickles are slightly shorter to longer than the stem diameter, with a stout reddish base and yellow points, almost patent to slightly declining or sometimes gently curved.
