Rubus trivialis Michx.

Southern Dewberry; Coastal Plain Dewberry

Shrub

Perennial

Vascular

Southern Dewberry is a native sprawling to creeping woody evergreen in the Rose family (Rosaceae). It can be found throughout Alabama. Southern Dewberry occurs on roadsides, in field edges, in dry forests, and in disturbed areas. It is a perennial with sprawling to creeping stems that frequently root at the nodes. The stems are pubescent, stipitate glandular, and armed with recurved prickles. The stems are often reddish purple in color. The leaves are alternate, evergreen, petiolate, and ternately to palmately compound. The leaflets are elliptic to obovate in outline, serrate or doubly serrate, glabrous to pubescent, and sparsely stipitate glandular. The leaves have prickles along the midvein on the lower surface. Inflorescences are terminal on short shoots (appearing axillary), and 1-3 flowered. The pedicels are armed with prickles and stipitate glandular. Flowers have 5 white to pink petals. The fruit is an aggregate of drupelets. Southern Dewberry fruit are consumed by a wide variety of wildlife. They are also edible by humans with fresh or baked into pies or cobbles, or made into jellies and jams.--A. Diamond

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Native FAC (NWPL)

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