Rubus laciniatus

Cutleaf blackberry

Family: Rosaceae · Type: shrub · Not Native

Cutleaf blackberry is a naturalized shrub found in northwestern California, the Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, San Francisco Bay Area, and Peninsular Ranges in moist, disturbed areas at elevations of 60 to 1,500 meters. Flowering from May to July, this plant produces white flowers with occasionally pink tones, 8 to 15 millimeters long, arranged in clusters of 10 to 25 blooms. Growing with arched or mounded stems up to 3 meters tall, it features numerous stout, wide-based prickles that are strongly curved. Its distinctive leaves are deeply dissected with 3 to 5 leaflets, each coarsely toothed and pointed, covered in fine hairs on the undersides. The fruit develops as a classic blackberry, turning deep black when mature.

Habitat: Moist, disturbed areas, garden escape

Bloom period: May-Jul

Elevation: 60-1500 m

Bioregions: NW, CaR, SN, SnFrB, PR

California counties: El Dorado, Siskiyou, Butte, Fresno, Shasta, Lake, Mendocino, Tulare, Humboldt, Sonoma, Nevada, Riverside, San Diego, Calaveras, Placer, Amador, Contra Costa, Marin, Mariposa, Trinity, Yuba, Stanislaus, Tuolumne, Alameda, Del Norte, Madera

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.