Rubus probus, commonly known as Atherton raspberry or wild raspberry, is a species of plant in the rose family Rosaceae. It has edible fruit and is native to Queensland, Australia, and nearby islands.

Description

Rubus probus is a scrambling, non-woody shrub growing to about high, and has recurved thorns on the undersides of leaves and twigs. The leaves are compound, with five ovate leaflets that are up to long and wide. The terminal leaflet is usually larger than the others, and they all have deeply toothed margins.

Flowers are (i.e. they have both functional stamens and functional carpels) and have five pale green sepals and five white petals. The fruit is an aggregate fruit, composed of numerous small drupes, and they grow up to long and wide. The fruit is edible.

Atherton raspberry is a rampant grower and, like most Rubus species, can form dense thorny thickets.

Phenology

Flowering and fruiting occurs from April to December.

Distribution and habitat

In Australia the species has been recorded along the Queensland coastal areas from Brisbane as far north as the Daintree National Park, and the Australasian Virtual Herbarium also has records from Bougainville Island. In addition to this, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility includes Papua New Guinea in the species' range and the Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants identification key states that the species also occurs in Malesia.

The plant is favoured by disturbance, and grows in rainforest at altitudes from sea level to about .

Taxonomy

The plant was first described as Rubus muelleri in 1884 by Frederick Manson Bailey, based on a collection of material from Helidon in southern Queensland, "near waterfalls".

Conservation status

This species is listed as least concern under the Queensland Government's Nature Conservation Act. , it has not been assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Gallery

References

External links

• Map of herbarium records of this species at the Australasian Virtual Herbarium

• Observations of this species on iNaturalist

• Images of this species on Flickriver.com