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Rubus niveus

Common name:	Ceylon Raspberry	Family:	Rosaceae
Author:	Thunb.	Botanical references:	11, 266
Synonyms:	Rubus lasiocarpus (Smith.), Rubus albescens (Roxb.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	E. Asia - Himalayas from Afghanistan to China, south to Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Thailand.
Habitat:	Forests and forest clearings, 1700 - 2300 metres in Kashmir[145, 146]. Thickets on slopes, sparse forests, montane valleys, streamsides and flood plains at elevations of 500 - 2800 metres[266].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	3	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	R. chloocladus[G] R. foliolosus[G] R. gracilis[G] R. horsfieldii[G] R. hypargyrus var. niveus[G] R. micranthus[G] R. pedunculosus[G] R. pubescens[B,G,HORTIPLEX,P] R. triflorus[G]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Dwarf Red Blackberry [P], Dwarf Red Raspberry [B], Snowpeaks Raspberry [P,B],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	niveus = snow white;
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Rosales. Rose family
Noxious, Invasive and Injurious Weeds	From USDA PLANTS database, Weeds Australia , DEFRA Injurious Weeds
	Listed as noxious/invasive for: Hawaii, Tasmaina.

Physical Characteristics

A decidious shrub growing to 2.5m. It is hardy to zone 9. It is in flower from June to July, and the seeds ripen from August to September. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects. We rate it 3/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Sunny Edge, Dappled Shade.

Edible Uses

Fruit.

Fruit - raw or cooked in pies, preserves etc[145, 158, 183]. The small fruit is up to 12mm in diameter[266], it is juicy with a sweet rich black-raspberry flavour[146, 183]. Of excellent desert quality, the fruit is very soft and needs to be consumed within 24 hours of being picked otherwise it will start to decay[194]. Average annual yields from a bush covering 2.5m² in the Himalayas are 657g[194]. The fruit contains about 7.8% sugars, 0.13% protein, 0.77% ash[194].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

Dye.

A purple to dull blue dye is obtained from the fruit[168].

Cultivation details

Easily grown in a good well-drained loamy soil in sun or semi-shade[1, 11, 200].
Not very hardy outdoors in Britain, but selected provenances should succeed outdoors in the mildest areas of the country[200].
Occasionally cultivated for its edible fruit in Asia, there is at least one named variety. 'Mysore' is a form suitable for sub-tropical areas, it has mild but nice flavoured fruit with small seeds[183].
Plants in this genus are notably susceptible to honey fungus[200].

Propagation

Seed - requires stratification and is best sown in early autumn in a cold frame. Stored seed requires one month stratification at about 3°c and is best sown as early as possible in the year. Prick out the seedlings when they are large enough to handle and grow on in a cold frame. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring of the following year.
Cuttings of half-ripe wood, July/August in a frame[200].
Tip layering in July. Plant out in autumn.
Division in early spring or just before leaf-fall in the autumn[200].

Cultivars

'': No entries have been made for this species as yet.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Rubus chloocladus (a possible synonym).

[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.

References for Rubus hypargyrus var. niveus (a possible synonym).

[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.

References for Rubus pubescens (a possible synonym).

[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[11] Bean. W. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. Murray 1981
A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.

[145] Singh. Dr. G. and Kachroo. Prof. Dr. P. Forest Flora of Srinagar. Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh 1976
A good flora of the western Himalayas but poorly illustrated. Some information on plant uses.

[146] Gamble. J. S. A Manual of Indian Timbers. Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh 1972
Written last century, but still a classic, giving a lot of information on the uses and habitats of Indian trees. Not for the casual reader.

[158] Gupta. B. L. Forest Flora of Chakrata, Dehra Dun and Saharanpur. Forest Research Institute Press 1945
A good flora for the middle Himalayan forests, sparsly illustrated. Not really for the casual reader.

[168] Grae. I. Nature's Colors - Dyes from Plants. MacMillan Publishing Co. New York. 1974 ISBN 0-02-544950-8
A very good and readable book on dyeing.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[194] Parmar. C. and Kaushal. M.K. Wild Fruits of the Sub-Himalayan Region. Kalyani Publishers. New Delhi. 1982
Contains lots of information on about 25 species of fruit-bearing plants of the Himalayas, not all of them suitable for cool temperate zones.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[266] Flora of China 1994
On-line version of the Flora - an excellent resource giving basic info on habitat and some uses.

Readers Comments

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Bibliography

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
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This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Rubus+niveus
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