Rubus queenslandicus
{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{Use Australian English|date=September 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Speciesbox
|name = Bramble-of-the-cape
|image = Rubus queenslandicus 217873129.jpg
|image_caption = Flower
|status = LC
|status_system = QLDNCA
|status_ref = {{R|DESQLD}}
|taxon = Rubus queenslandicus
|authority = A.R.Bean{{R|APNI|POWO}}
|range_map = Rubus-queenslandicus-distribution-map.png
|range_map_caption =
}}
Rubus queenslandicus, commonly known as bramble-of-the-cape, rose-leaf bramble, or native raspberry, is a plant in the rose family Rosaceae which is endemic to a small part of northeastern Queensland, Australia, where it is found on the margins of highland forest. Prior to 1997, collections of this plant were identified as either R. rosifolius, R. fraxinifolius or R. muelleri/R. probus.{{R|BEAN}}{{rp|677}}
Description
This species is an erect shrub growing up to about {{cvt|1|m}} tall. The stems, petioles and rachises are glabrous, i.e. without hairs, but have small stout thorns about {{cvt|3|mm}} long. The compound leaves are glabrous and usually have five or seven leaflets, although those close to inflorescences may have three or one. The leaflet blades are narrowly ovate, the base obtuse and the tip acute or acuminate. The leaflet margins are bi- or triserrate, the teeth up to {{cvt|3|mm}} long, and each of the eight or nine lateral veins terminates at a major tooth.{{R|BEAN}}{{rp|683}}{{R|RFK|COOPER2|APO}}
The inflorescences are terminal or borne in the leaf axils, flowers carried on pedicels up to {{cvt|3.5|cm}} long. There are five pale sepals measuring up to {{cvt|11|mm}} by {{cvt|4|mm}} with a long acumen, narrowly triangular, persistent. The five petals are white, measure about {{cvt|11|mm}} long by {{cvt|8|mm}} wide, and are deciduous. The flowers have between 100 and 200 stamens measuring about {{cvt|3.5|mm}} long, and between 400 and 600 carpels.{{R|BEAN}}{{rp|683}}{{R|RFK|COOPER2|APO}}
The fruit is an ovoid or somewhat cylindrical aggregate fruit measuring about {{cvt|13|mm}} diameter and up to {{cvt|18|mm}} long, and is bright red at maturity.{{R|BEAN}}{{rp|683}}{{R|RFK|COOPER2|APO}}
=Phenology=
Flowering has been observed from May to November, and fruit between June and February.{{R|BEAN}}{{rp|685}}{{R|COOPER2}}
Taxonomy
This species was first formally described by the Queensland botanist Anthony Bean based on a specimen collected by another Queensland botanist, Paul Irwin Forster, in the Mount Lewis National Park. Bean's paper, titled "A revision of Rubus subg. Idaeobatus (Focke) Focke (Rosaceae) in Australia", was published in 1997 in the journal Austrobaileya.{{R|BEAN}}{{rp|683}}
=Etymology=
The genus name Rubus is from the Latin word rubus meaning "blackberry" or "bramble". The species epithet queenslandicus refers to the Australian state to which this species is endemic.{{R|BEAN}}{{rp|685}}{{R|COOPER2}}
Distribution and habitat
This species is restricted to highland areas of northeastern Queensland, from the Windsor Tablelands (adjacent to the Daintree National Park), south to Mount Fox (a little north of Townsville). However, most collections of the plant have been on the Atherton Tableland. It usually grows in disturbed areas of rainforest or on the forest's margins, at altitudes from about {{cvt|680|m}} up to {{cvt|1200|m}}.{{R|BEAN}}{{rp|684}}{{R|RFK}}
Ecology
The fruit is eaten by numerous species of birds.{{R|COOPER2}}
Conservation
This species is listed by the Queensland Department of Environment and Science as least concern.{{R|DESQLD}} {{As of|2024|01|18}}, it has not been assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Gallery
File:Rubus queenslandicus 224172697.jpg|Habit
File:Rubus-queenslandicus-SF23237-01.jpg|Compound leaves
File:Rubus queenslandicus 224172649.jpg|Flower close-up
File:Rubus-queenslandicus-ALA-2.jpg|Flowers and fruit
File:Rubus-queenslandicus-SF23237-03.jpg|New fruit with persistent calyx
File:Rubus-queenslandicus-ALA-1.jpg|Ripe fruit
References
{{Reflist|refs=
{{cite web |url=https://apps.des.qld.gov.au/species-search/details/?id=18203 |title=Species profile—Rubus queenslandicus |year=2022 |website=Queensland Department of Environment and Science |publisher=Queensland Government |access-date=30 September 2023}}
{{cite web |url=https://id.biodiversity.org.au/name/apni/171008 |title=Rubus queenslandicus |website=Australian Plant Name Index (APNI) |publisher=Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research, Australian Government |access-date=30 September 2023}}
{{cite web |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:994196-1 |title=Rubus queenslandicus A.R.Bean |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |year=2023 |access-date=30 September 2023}}
{{cite web |url=https://apps.lucidcentral.org/rainforest/text/entities/Rubus_queenslandicus.htm |title=Rubus queenslandicus |author1=F.A.Zich |author2=B.P.M.Hyland |author3=T.Whiffen |author4=R.A.Kerrigan |author2-link=Bernard Hyland |year=2020 |website=Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants Edition 8 (RFK8) |publisher=Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research (CANBR), Australian Government |access-date=30 September 2023}}
}}
External links
{{Wikispecies}}
{{Commons category}}
- [https://avh.ala.org.au/occurrences/search?taxa=Rubus+queenslandicus#tab_mapView View a map] of herbarium collections of this species at the Australasian Virtual Herbarium
- [https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/observations?taxon_id=925386 View observations] of this species on iNaturalist
- [https://flickriver.com/search/Rubus+queenslandicus View images] of this species on Flickriver
{{Taxonbar|from=Q17246887}}
Category:Endemic flora of Queensland
Category:Taxa named by Anthony Bean