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SWAMP DEWBERRY

NOMENCLATURE

Other Names: swamp dewberry, trailing plant

 Scientific Name: Rubus hispidas L. and other Rubus spp.

 Plant Family: Rosaceae

GENERAL INFORMATION

Botanical Description:

Stems: spiny, reach 4 - 10 inch height, low ground-trailing growth habit

 Leaves: palmately divided into 3 - 5 leaflets, jagged serration on margins, similar to raspberry leaves

 Roots: Trailing cane-like stems can root at the tips and nodes.

 Flowers: white, bloom May - June

 Seeds: fruit similar to small raspberries, red-black, with tiny seeds

 Seedling:

ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE

Difficult to control once established in a bed.

LIFE CYCLE

Reproduction: biennial or perennial

 Propagation: seed, rootstock, rooting stem

 Dispersal: May be introduced as seed contaminant in sand or soil, or as rootstock contaminant in cuttings.

DISTRIBUTION

State: Common throughout Wisconsin.

 National: Found northward to Ontario and Nova Scotia, southward to North Carolina and Missouri.

 Origin:

ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS

Prefers marshes and bogs. Found along cranberry bed edges, drainage ditches, and new plantings.

SCOUTING PROCEDURE/ET

While scouting a cranberry bed for disease and insect pests, identify weed populations as they arise. Note the specie(s) of weed present as well as the population level relative to field area. Example: 30% dewberry, 10% boneset and joe-pye weed mix.

REFERENCES

Gleason, H. A. 1952. Illustrated Flora of the United States and Adjacent Canada. Vol 2. Lancaster Press, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. p. 307.

Kummer, L. D., T. G. Dittl, and T. D. Planer. 1993. Wisconsin Cranberry Weeds. Wisconsin Cranberry Board, Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin. p. 19.

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