Rubus parvus
Common name
creeping lawyer
Family
Rosaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Native
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
RUBPAR
Chromosome number
2n = 28
Current conservation status
The threat classification status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2017 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website This report includes a statistical summary and brief notes on changes since 2012 and replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Authors: By Peter J. de Lange, Jeremy R. Rolfe, John W. Barkla, Shannel P. Courtney, Paul D. Champion, Leon R. Perrie, Sarah M. Beadel, Kerry A. Ford, Ilse Breitwieser, Ines Schönberger, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Peter B. Heenan and Kate Ladley. Please note, threat classifications are often suggested by authors when publications fall between NZTCS assessment periods – a suggested threat classification status has not been assessed by the NZTCS panel.
Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2017 | Not Threatened
Previous conservation statuses
2012 | Not Threatened
2009 | Not Threatened
2004 | Not Threatened
Brief description
Scrambling, much-branched, creeping shrub. Young stems, leaf petioles and the veins of the leaf undersides armed with prickles. Leaves mostly solitary, narrow, margins deeply toothed, dark bronze-green to red-green above. Flowers white, usually solitary, occasional in few-flowered sprays. Fruit a large, red berry.
Distribution
Endemic. South Island only.
Habitat
Montane to alpine - often riparian, usually in damp, freely draining, open sites growing with other low shrubs and herbs.
Features
Scrambling, much-branched,shrub, stems prostrate, up to 1 m long, rooting at nodes, terete, glabrous, unarmed when mature otherwise young stems reddish, densely to sparsely armed with small, pale red, orange-red to yellow prickles. Stipules minute, caducous, narrow linear-acute. Leaves on petioles 10-20 mm long, lamina 25-90 × 5-20 mm, unifoliolate, coriaceous, adaxially dark bronze-green to red-green, abaxially paler, linear to linear-oblong or narrow-lanceolate, acute, shallowly cordate at base (rarely with small lobes present), sharply serrate-dentate on margins; midrib sparingly prickly. Flowers in leaf-axils, solitary or borne in few-flowered panicles, peduncle up to 10 mm long, sepals 5-8 mm long, ovate, acuminate, pubescent. Petals 5, up to 10 mm long, white, ovate to broad-ovate, obtuse. Male flowers with numerous stamens, ovary rudimentary or absent. Female flowers bearing numerous carpels. Fruits 10-25 mm long, drupletes numerous, red. Endocarp ‘seed’ 2.0-3.1 mm long, surfaces conspicuously reticulate.
Similar taxa
Distinguished from introduced (blackberries, raspberries wineberries etc) and indigenous Rubus by the scrambling / creeping growth habit, smaller, usually solitary flowers, and single rather than compound, lanceolate, deeply serrated glabrescent leaves.
Flowering
November - January
Flower colours
White
Fruiting
January - April
Propagation technique
Very easily grown from rooted pieces. An attractive scrambling plant for rockeries and an excellent ground cover in well-lighted situations. Prefers a damp, well-drained soil. The large fruits are perhaps the most palatable of the New Zealand indigenous Rubus. In cultivation the most commonly grown R. parvus is actually the sterile hybrid R. xbarkeri (possibly R. cissoides x R. parvus) which has lighter green (bronize-green) mostly ternate leaves.
Etymology
rubus: From the Latin meaning bramble
parvus: Small
Taxonomic notes
The sterile hybrid R. xbarkeri is often sold as this species, it can be distinguished by its trifoliolate leaves and lack of flowers. Its exact parentage remains unclear.
Attribution
Fact Sheet prepared for NZPCN by P.J. de Lange 18 October 2016. Description based on Allan (1961), Webb et al. (1988) and Webb & Simpson (2001)
References and further reading
Allan, H.H. 1961: Flora of New Zealand. Vol. I, Wellington, Government Printer.
Webb CJ, Sykes WR, Garnock-Jones PJ 1988: Flora of New Zealand. Vol. IV. Botany Division, DSIR, Christchurch.
Webb, C.J.; Simpson, M.J.A. 2001: Seeds of New Zealand Gymnosperms and Dicotyledons. Christchurch, Manuka Press.
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Rubus parvus Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/rubus-parvus/ (Date website was queried)