Rubus chamaemorus L.
cloudberry
Rosaceae (Rose family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

Photograph

© Judith Holm     (Photo ID #80837)


Map

E-Flora BC Static Map

Distribution of Rubus chamaemorus
Click here to view the full interactive map and legend

Species Information

General:
Perennial herb from a slender creeping rhizome; stems erect, 5-30 cm tall, unbranched, unarmed, hairy and often glandular, or nearly smooth, the lowest nodes with stipules only.
Leaves:
Alternate, deciduous, 1 to 3, long-stalked, the blades round-kidney-shaped, 2-12 cm wide, somewhat leathery, palmately shallowly 5- to 7-lobed, the lobes usually rounded at the summit, saw-toothed, green and smooth to thinly hairy above, paler and hairier especially on the veins beneath; stipules egg-shaped.
Flowers:
Inflorescence of a solitary stalked flower atop the stem, the flowers unisexual with male and female flowers on separate plants; corollas white, the petals 5, egg-shaped, 7-15 mm long, spreading; calyces fine-hairy to smooth, 5-lobed, the lobes oblong-egg-shaped, 5-15 mm long, ascending to spread ing in fruit; ovaries superior; stamens many, the filaments linear.
Fruits:
Drupelets, large, smooth, coherent in a raspberry-like cluster, at first reddish, then amber to yellow when mature.

SourceThe Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Illustration

If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.

USDA Species Characteristics

Flower Colour:
White
Blooming Period:
Late Spring
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Red
Present over the Summer
Source:  The USDA

Ecology

Ecological Framework for Rubus chamaemorus

The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)

Site Information
Value / Class

Avg

Min

Max

Elevation (metres)
725 6 1743
Slope Gradient (%)
3 0 95

Aspect (degrees)
[0 - N; 90 - E; 180 - S; 270 - W]

15 5 360
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR)
[0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic;
8 - hydric]
6 1 8
Modal Nutrient Regime
Class
A
# of field plots
 species was recorded in:
324
Modal BEC Zone Class
BWBS

All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in

BWBS(123), CWH(47), ESSF(19), ICH(23), MS(1), SBS(58), SWB(23)

Habitat and Range

Bogs and wet peaty soil in boggy forests in the lowland and montane zones; frequent in BC north of 55degreeN, infrequent southward, absent from SC and SE BC; circumboreal, N to AK, YT and NT, E to NF and S to NY and ME; Eurasia.

SourceThe Illustrated Flora of British Columbia