Rubus anglocandicans
Description
Rubus anglocandicans is an arching shrub with a shiny, furrowed stem. The stem bears numerous robust prickles. Leaves invariably have 5 non-overlapping leaflets; these are hairless above and white felted below. Flowers are white.Edees, E.S., Newton, A. and Kent, D.H., 1988. Brambles of the British Isles. Ray Society.
Habitat and Distribution
Rubus anglocandicans is a plant of woodland edges, hedges and lowland heaths. Its native range stretches in a band from the Cotswolds north east to the Yorkshire coast.Newton, A. and Randall, R.D., 2004. Atlas of British and Irish brambles. London: Botanical Society of the British Isles.
Impact as an introduction
Rubus anglocandicans is widespread as an introduced plant in Australia. It is classified as a 'weed of national significance', due to its impact on areas of conservation and of forestry.{{cite journal |last1=Evans |first1=Katherine J. |last2=Weber |first2=Heinrich E. |title=Rubus anglocandicans (Rosaceae) is the most widespread taxon of European blackberry in Australia |journal=Australian Systematic Botany |date=2003 |volume=16 |issue=4 |pages=527 |doi=10.1071/SB02037}} In recent years, R. anglocandicans has declined in some regions of Australia; the plant pathogen Phytophthora bilorbang is believed to have some connection to this decline.{{cite journal |last1=Aghighi |first1=Sonia |last2=Hardy |first2=Giles E. St. J. |last3=Scott |first3=John K. |last4=Burgess |first4=Treena I. |title=Phytophthora bilorbang sp. nov., a new species associated with the decline of Rubus anglocandicans (European blackberry) in Western Australia |journal=European Journal of Plant Pathology |date=1 June 2012 |volume=133 |issue=4 |pages=841–855 |doi=10.1007/s10658-012-0006-5|s2cid=17509177 |url=https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/9434/ }}