Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria

View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora

Rubus leucodermis (Blackcap Raspberry, Black Raspberry, or Whitebark Raspberry, and native: Blue Raspberry) is a species of Rubus native to western North America, from British Columbia, Canada south to California, New Mexico and Mexico. It is closely related to the eastern Black Raspberry Rubus occidentalis. It is a deciduous shrub growing to 0.5-2 meter tall, with thorny shoots. While the crown is perennial, the canes are biennial, growing vegetatively one year, flowering and fruiting the second and then dying. Like with other dark raspberries, the tips of the 1st year canes (primocanes) often grow downward to the soil in the fall, and take root and form tip layers which become new plants. The leaves are pinnate, with five leaflets on leaves strong-growing stems in their first year, and three leaflets on leaves on flowering branchlets with white, seldom light purple flowers. The fruit is 1-1.2 centimeter diameter, reddish-purple, dark blue to nearly black when ripe, and has high contents of anthocyanins and ellagic acid.

Plant type

Shrub, Vine

Size

1 - 7 ft Tall

Form

Mounding

Growth rate

Fast

Dormancy

Winter Deciduous

Calscape icon
Color

White, Purple, Red, Blue, Black

Flowering season

Spring

Sun

Partial Shade

Water

Moderate, High

Ease of care

Moderate

Soil description

Adaptable, tolerant of sand, loam and clay.

Sunset Zones

1, 2, 4*, 5*, 6*, 7*, 8, 9, 14*, 15*, 16*, 17*, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24

Site type

Moist rocky places

Plant communities

Douglas-Fir Forest, Mixed Evergreen Forest, North Coastal Coniferous Forest, Red Fir Forest, Forest, Yellow Pine Forest

Bats
Birds
Caterpillars
Butterflies

Butterflies and moths supported

0 confirmed and 64 likely

Confirmed Likely

Brittania Moth

Acleris britannia

Frosty Dagger Moth

Acronicta brumosa

Fingered Dagger Moth

Acronicta dactylina

Funerary Dagger Moth

Acronicta funeralis