Rubus ulmifolius Schott.

Salahi, Razieh, Afsharzadeh, Saeed & Sochor, Michal, 2025, Taxonomic and nomenclatural revision of Rubus L. (Rosaceae) in Iran, Phytotaxa 700 (1), pp. 1-17 : 9-10

Rubus ulmifolius Schott. in Isis (Oken). 2: 821 (1818b). Type: In sepibus maritimis Hispania, s.dat., Schott s.n. (W;

lectotype —image!), designated by Weber in Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 106: 216 (1986).

= R. anatolicus (Focke) ex Hausskn. in Mitt. Thur. Bot. Ver. N. F. 5: 90 (1893). Type: Grecia, Attica, Phalari, l.d. Moschato , 5 August 1884, Heldreich s.n. (W, lectotype; BP, isolectotype, not seen), designated by Monasterio-Huelin and Weber in Edinb. J. Bot. 53 (3): 317 (1996).

= R. creticus Tourn. ex L. in Fl. Palaest.: 15 (1756), nom. inval.? Type: Greece, Crete; s.dat., Tournefort 6073 (P-TRF, P00680425 , lectotype, not seen), designated by Van de Beek in Adansonia 3, 38: 46 (2016) .

= R. dalmatinus (Tratt.) Guss. in Fl. Sicul. Syn. 1: 567 (1843). Type: Dalmatia ad sepes, s.dat., Portenschlag s.n. (holotype, not found).

= R. inermis Pourr. in Hist. & Mém. Acad. Roy. Sci. Toulouse 3: 326. (1788), nom. rej. Type: Spain, Barcelona, s.dat., Pourret 3168 (MAF, lectotype —image!). designated by Van de Beek in Gorteria 9: 206 (1979).

= R. sanctus Schreb. in Icon. Descr. Pl. [Schreber] 15, t. 8 (1766), nom. illeg.? Type: Crete, s.dat., Schreber 43 (M, holotype —image!).

= R. sanguineus Friv. in Flora (Regensb.) 18(21): 334 (1835). Type: Macedonia, s.dat., Frivaldsky von Frivald s.n. (KIEL, lectotype —not seen), designated by Monasterio-Huelin and Weber (1996).

= R. turcomanicus Freny. in Bull. Herb. Boissier 6: 209 (1906). Type: Turkmenistan / Balkan, Kisil Arwat, Karakala, ad radices montis Sundsodagh, in valle humid, 31 May 1901, Sintenis 1846a (W, JE 00014920, syntype —image!).

= R. vulgaris J. de Vries in Natuurk. Ophelderende Aanmerkingen 3: 196 (1779), nom. rej. Type: Italy, Valgrisanche (Aosta), 3 July 1961, Van Ooststroom 22933 (L, lectotype —not seen), designated by Van de Beek in Adansonia 3, 38: 36 (2016).

For more synonyms, see Monasterio-Huelin and Weber (1996).

Shrub, usually up to 2 m tall and often forming large thickets. Primocanes arching, sometimes climbing; stems distinctly angular with flat to slightly furrowed sides, ± 5–10 mm in diameter, (blueish-)green to violet-vinaceous on sides exposed to sun, moderately to densely hairy to tomentose, without stalked glands, with 3 to 8 prickles per 50 mm of stem length arranged along stem angles; prickles almost uniform, medium to large, straight to curved, sometimes slightly declining, strong and broad-based, 5–8(–10) mm long and 4–8 mm wide at base, ± concolourous with stem (usually greyish) with yellowish tip. Stipules linear/filiform, ± 10–12 × ca. 1 mm, hairy with stellate hairs and long simple hairs, without stalked glands. Leaves on primocanes palmate, 5-foliolate, distinctly softly hairy to touch, sparsely hairy above with short stellate hairs and long simple hairs, white/greyish tomentose beneath with many short stellate and sparse long simple hairs; petiole ± as long as basal leaflets, pruinose, densely hairy to tomentose and with 4 to 10 small curved prickles; terminal leaflet usually narrowly to broadly obovate or elliptic to suborbicular, truncate and usually shortly cuspidate, base rounded or subcordate, apex shortly acuminate or submucronate or sometimes rounded, with ± 0–15 mm long tip, margins almost flat, periodically dentate, incisions 1–3 mm deep, petiolule ± 26–32(–51)% of the length of leaflet lamina; lateral leaflets obovate, sometimes suborbicular, with petiolules 10–15 mm long; basal leaflets obovate to elliptic, with petiolules 0–5 mm long (± 0–10% of the lamina length). Inflorescence usually richly branched, narrowly pyramidal, racemose; inflorescence axis angular to furrowed, villous and tomentose, pruinose, hairy with dense subadpressed stellate hairs and longer patent hairs; prickles 2 to 15 per 50 mm of axis length, strong, curved, ± 1–4 mm long, ca. 1–4 mm wide at base; pedicels 3–25 mm long, villous, tomentose with adpressed stellate hairs and dense long patent simple hairs, with 0–6(–9) very small, straight to curved, ca. 1–2 mm long prickles. Flowers 20–25 mm in diameter; sepals greyish tomentose with short stellate and long simple hairs, distinctly reflexed during and after anthesis, 4–7 mm long; petals pale pink to deep magenta, rarely white, much longer than sepals, 10–12 mm long, broadly elliptic to suborbicular. Stamens equal or much longer than styles; filaments usually pink; anthers hairy. Carpels densely hairy. Flower receptacle glabrous. Aggregate fruit large with ± 10–40 drupelets, semiglobose or globose, green turning red and finally black at maturity, shiny, juicy and sweet ( Fig. 5 ).

Ecology: Rubus ulmifolius is the most common non-forest bramble species in Iran. It occurs mainly on roadsides, in gardens, tree plantations, pastures, ruderal and other secondary habitats, along rivers or water lines, predominantly in sunny or semi-shaded situations, rarely in forests under semi-closed canopy.

Diagnostic characters: stems thick, greyish/blueish pruinose and tomentose; prickles strong, broad-based, mostly straight and erect to declining; petals usually pink to deep magenta; filaments pink; anthers hairy.

Distribution: widely distributed species, mostly in Hyrcanian regions in Gilan, Mazandaran, Golestan, and also in East and West Azerbaijan. Further south, it becomes progressively rarer but remains relatively common in central Iran (provinces of Tehran, Qazvin, Kermanshah, Kurdistan, Lorestan, Isfahan, Chaharmahal & Bakhtiari, Kohgiluyeh & Boyer-Ahmad, Khuzestan) and rarely occurs also in the Kerman, Fars, and Bushehr provinces ( Fig. 2D ). The overall distribution of R. ulmifolius extends further east to Afghanistan and west through the Mediterranean regions of Europe and Africa to Western and Northwestern Europe and Macaronesia ( Kurtto et al. 2010).

Notes: The name Rubus ulmifolius has been recently conserved against R. vulgaris and R. inermis ( Wilson 2024) . The conservation against the so-called eastern taxon ( R. sanctus sensu Monasterio-Huelin and Weber 1996 ) has not been approved yet. Although the nomenclatural committee in principle supported this conservation, it was not clear whether R. creticus L. (the oldest name known for the species) is a validly published name and whether R. sanctus Schreb. (the commonly used name for the eastern taxon; Kurtto et al. 2010) is legitimate. Considering the nomenclatural inclarity, as well as the available evidence for the conspecificity of the two taxa (western and eastern; Sochor et al. 2017, 2024a), we use here the most commonly used name for the diploid species in question, that is R. ulmifolius .

Published records from Iran: This species was reported from Iran by Parsa (1948; as R. anatolicus and R. dalmaticus ), Gilli (1969; as R. anatolicus ), Zieliński (1978; as R. anatolicus ), and Khatamsaz (1992; as R. sanctus agg.).

Figures

FIGURE 2. Distribution of Rubus species in Iran. A: R. caesius; B: R. dolichocarpus; C: R. glandulosus; D: R. ulmifolius.

FIGURE 5. Rubus ulmifolius. A: inflorescence; B: primocane leaves; C: primocane stem, D: flower; E: hairy anthers; F: infructescence with black ripe and red unripe fruits.