Tasmania has
nine introduced species in the Rubus fruticosus
complex (Blackberries). These are very common woody weed
with prickly scrambling stems. They are very closely related to each
other. In fact they are all variants of a single group of plants,
but they produce viable seed without sexual reproduction and are called separate species because they cannot interbreed. One of these
species, R.
laciniatus, is treated separately in this key because of its
distinctive deeply lobed leaves. The others (R. anglocandicans,
R. echinatus, R. erythrops, R. leucostachys, R. philadelphicus, R.
polyanthemus, R. rubritinctus and R. vestitus) are not
treated separately here. These species can be confused with Native
Raspberry (R.
parvifolius), but the leaflets are larger and are usually
arranged palmately (i.e. arising from a single point, like fingers
on a hand).
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