Swamp Dewberry

Swamp Dewberry

Walking along the Wolf Pine Trail at our West Meadow property you may not see signs of spring from a cursory glance.

Upon walking a little slower and taking a closer look, you’ll find swamp dewberry along the trail, hiding underneath leaves of oak, maple, and white pine needles. Rubus hispidus, also known as bristly blackberry, is a creeping bramble in the rose family.

Form: The woody stems of dewberry trail along, forming arches that can root from the tip, similar to the long canes of its blackberry and raspberry relatives.  As the common names imply, the stems produce bristly hairs.

Habitat: Swamp dewberry favors wet to moist habitats such as the wetland margins of West Meadow. Rubus hispidus can also be found in woodlands, forest edges, meadows, and fields.

Note the stems of the swamp dewberry trailing on the ground in late winter.

Flowers and pollinators: Being in the rose family, Rubus hispidus produces a 5-petaled white flower early to mid-summer that attracts bees, flies, and small butterflies.

Fruit: The fruits are fleshy drupes similar to blackberries, but generally more sour.

Wildlife: The fruits are eaten by many species of birds, turtles, mice, squirrels, and larger mammals.  Muskrats may eat the roots and rabbit and deer may browse the leaves and woody stems.  With its nature to form dense thickets of bristly canes and foliage, swamp dewberry provides nesting habitat and protective cover for various wildlife, including garter snakes on a warm March day!

(March 2020 – Flora & Fauna Friday)